Insert Cliched Halloween Clipshow Here
by Mei1105
Summary: Its Halloween, and the Anti-Cliche and Mary-Sue Elimination Society are having a party. But the Sue threat does not sleep, even for Halloween, and something very strange is going on...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Happy Halloween everyone!

I don't know how long this story is going to go on for – I'm just going to see where it takes me. This is pre Red Skies Twilight, for reasons that you will see later.

One of the flashbacks belongs to Master of the Library – thank you so much for writing this!

* * *

**Chapter 1**

"Aaaaaaand, power!"

Emily snapped a plug in, and suddenly the whole room was filled with the glow of several tangled strings of fairy lights, that had been thrown haphazardly over the bookshelves. Clusters of fake cobweb were also dangling from various points around the room, and fake spiders had been thrown everywhere, along with the customary jack-o-lanterns, casting ominous grinning silhouettes on the walls.

Standing in the centre of the room, in the middle of a low table, was Harriet, her arms spread wide. This might sound like a normal pose, but it was made very difficult by the fact that the Society leader was dressed in a kangaroo costume, and had very short arms. As she turned to survey the illuminated lights, her tail knocked several bottles of coke and a neat stack of paper cups flying. Rhia and several other people dove to save them from an untimely date with the floor.

"Thank you Emily!" Harriet smiled down at her charge, who was wearing cut off jeans, and a striped shirt. A bandana was wrapped around her head, and she carried a sword in her belt, and an eye patch, which was currently pulled up so she could work properly.

"When do we get to eat?" Tyler whined. "I only ate one meal today so I could get in the mood for my costume..."

Harriet raised an eyebrow at the smallest Society agent, who dressed all in black, and was apparently being a stick figure for the evening. "Well that's your look out, isn't it? Have patience my dear underling. Food shall be served soon!"

"This was a really good idea Harriet," Marcus admitted with a nod, studying everyone's outfits from behind his shades – he had refused to dress up, stating that his usual outfit was enough of a costume as it was.

"Of course its a good idea!" Harriet tossed her hair. "I'm British! All my ideas are good! And it only took me two minutes to think of this one!"

FLASHBACK

"_That's it!"_

_The Leader's cry caused everyone to look up from their desks, and crane their necks so that they could see over the towering piles of paperwork. Harriet was on her feet, and in two steps (one on the chair and one on the desk), she towered over everyone and puffed out her chest._

"_I am locking all this paperwork in the third kitchen!"_

_There was a collective gasp from the Society agents. The third kitchen was a place none of them dared to tread. The plates and food in there had been abandoned for so long that no one could rightly imagine what kind of horrors had bred in that time. It was worse than the mutant spaghetti monster that kitchen two had produced, before the Great Kitchen Clean had come about. After that event, Rhia had claimed ownership of kitchen two, and declared it her own personal workspace. Kitchen three however, had never been touched, and most agents had forgotten where it was._

"_We are going to take a break from work," Harriet declared. "And we are going to have a party!"_

_Silence rained. Several people put up umbrellas._

"_What kind of party?" Miriku finally asked._

_Harriet's eyes fell on the calendar on the wall, and her face split into a wide grin._

"_A Halloween Party! And we shall all wear costumes!"_

_Another long silence, however this time some people were grinning widely._

"_Harriet," Tash said suddenly. "I don't think parties are covered by the budget."_

_Several seconds later, Tash was running from the room, screaming as Harriet threw balled up bits of paperwork at her._

OOO

Beaming widely at her own genius, Harriet spun on her heel (this time, sending a platter of cocktail sausages flying with her tail) and addressed the gathered Society agents, all of whom were wearing costumes of various descriptions.

"My friends, relatives and dearest underlings-"

"You don't have any relatives here Harriet."

"Shut up Tash!" the leader cleared her throat. "I now declare, this Society Halloween party, open!"

As instructed, Ben pressed play on Harriet's laptop, sending music out into the room, and Rhia whipped off the covers on the plates, revealing trays of toffee apples, decorated cakes and cookies, and other staple party foods. Several members began to drool.

"Michael, your costume!" Claire warned, causing her boyfriend to blush at his hunger. The dark clothing and armour he wore gave him an imposing look, however drooling on it detracted greatly from this appearance. Two bat-like wings grew from the young man's back, and his teeth and claws had been lengthened and pointed.

"I can't help it," Michael protested. "Doing such complicated magic makes you really hungry..."

"Yes, but demons don't usually drool over sausage rolls and cake, even if they were made by Chef Rhia," Miriku pointed out, smoothing out her long white dress. Her bracelets clanked against her pharaoh collar. Michael raised a clawed hand in her direction and she smiled sweetly. "What? Its true..."

Claire hugged Michael from behind, taking care not to squash his wings. Her outfit was the polar opposite to Michael's, her own wings had pearly white feathers and were tucked neatly behind her back. She wore a dress of white and gold, with a golden halo above her head.

"I think everyone looks great," Tash said, as the three of them helped themselves to the aforementioned sausage rolls. She was dressed as a belly dancer, and the gold coins on her skirt, top, bracelets and anklet jingled every time she moved. "I'm impressed by the magic too Michael."

Michael pulled a face. "Claire wanted me to go as a bunny. I told her I'd never kiss her again." He looked around suddenly. "Speaking of kiss, where's your boyfriend, Tash?"

Tash gave a mild smirk. "Funny that you should mention dressing up as a cute fluffy animal..."

Right on cue...

"Tashy! Can I talk to you for a second?!"

From the corridor stormed a furious looking Adrian, who looked as though he had been attacked by a five year old kid with a black sharpie. He had a black circle on his nose, and three black lines drawn across each cheek. But what was most surprising was his outfit...

Tash gave a wide smile. "Hello Emiushere. Good nap?"

The Librarian twitched and jabbed a finger at the white furred kitty outfit he had apparently been somehow forced into.

"Where did you hide my trenchcoats? And pants? Hell, where are the _rest _of my clothes!"

It was impossible for Tash to pull off an innocent face, particularly when she was struggling not to laugh – a struggle that was not helped by the fact that Michael seemed to be holding back hysterics and the corner of Claire's mouth was twitching.

"My accomplice has them – she hid your entire wardrobe."

The kitty ears were twitching more rapidly the more annoyed and impatient Adrian got. "And who was your accomplice, may I ask?"

Tash's smirk became more pronounced. "You shouldn't even need to ask – there's only one person who can hide stuff from you in your own Library. But if you want a hint, she's got big boobs, she can change her appearance at will, and she's currently laughing at you from over the video cameras."

No one had ever seen the Librarian's jaw drop so fast. "You...she...how did you find out about her?!"

FLASHBACK

"_Bloody hell..."_

_The words were muffled with awe as Tash stood at the foot of a towering mecha, blue and white in colour and with wings folded up neatly by its sides. It was so tall it filled the whole hanger. The overall effect was incredibly imposing. Tash gave a low whistle._

"_I only came in for a spanner..."_

"_Oooh you looking for this?"_

_Tash gave a small, undignified scream and whirled around. For a wild moment she worried that Adrian had caught her breaking into his private hanger...before she realised that the voice was female and definitely not Adrian's._

_Standing behind the now closed door, was a tall, incredibly buxom woman. She had long black hair, which was streaked with white and wore a dark blue trenchcoat. For some reason, Tash was getting a very Adrian-like vibe from her, and she took a harder look at the trenchcoat, the little green imp known as jealousy rising up for some unknown reason._

"_Who are you? And why do you have one of my boyfriend's trenchcoats?"_

_The woman's eyes went a little wide, before a smirk crept across her face. Tash felt herself blush as she felt eyes roam across her body in a way that was anything but innocent. "So you're Tash? You're hotter than Adrian describes..."_

_Despite herself, Tash blushed. "So not hot...but you still haven't answered either of my questions."_

"_Ah, ah." The woman waggled a finger and put a hand on her hip, twirling the spanner in the other. "That's not nice…I asked first." _

"_Fine. Yes, I was looking for the spanner!" Tash reached for it, but the woman stepped back out of her reach and Tash's hand missed. "Hey!"_

"_My name is Phoenixia." The woman smirked and continued to twirl the spanner idly, violet eyes looking amusedly at her. "And that's not how we play the game, my dear. We take turns…you asked me a question and I gave you an answer…" She pointed the spanner at Tash. "So now I ask you a question and you give me an answer. Otherwise, you don't get the spanner you wanted."_

_Tash lifted an eyebrow. "And what's to stop me from just getting a different spanner?"_

"_That's against the rules, but I'll let you have a freebie…" Phoenixia smirked and gestured around them to the expanse of the hanger that was not taken up by the giant mecha. "Do you see another spanner around here?"_

"_Well, sure…" Tash glanced around and blinked in surprise. There were several crates along one wall, as well the door she had entered in. But there was no tool rack or box laying around, just an open tool case and the spot for the spanner was empty-meaning that it was the one in Phoenixia's hand. "I thought he had more tool kits around here…"_

"_Well, Adrian does." Phoenixia as she gestured up to the top of the mecha. "They are in the cockpit, but unless you want to walk eight stories worth of stairs…" She pointed to the metal stairwell that lead to the cockpit. "You're not getting another spanner."_

_The British girl sighed. Obviously she wasn't going to get the spanner until she played Phoenixia's game. "Alright, alright…what questions to you want to ask me? _

_Phoenixia smirked and she looked Tash up and down as she walked around her and Tash blushed, not used to having someone look at her like that. "You are hotter than he described…" She completed her circle and her smirk became one of someone sharing a secret. "So…is he good?"_

_Tash blinked. "What?"_

"_Adrian?" Phoenixia's smirk grew slightly naughty. "Is he any good in bed?"_

_"What…he…I…you…I mean…!?" Tash spluttered and then regained her self, feeling her cheeks burn hotly as she blushed hard. "I don't have to answer that!"_

_Phoenixia's smirk grew more pronounced. "You don't have to….that told me all I need to know. I bet he leaves you tired, but oh-so satisfied when you're finished…and it takes hours for you to be finished."_

"_Oh, yeah…." Tash's eyes gained a slightly glazed look and her expression became vacantly happily until she snapped back to reality. "HEY!"_

_A laugh burst from the buxom woman and she headed for a crate, still chuckling and twirling the spanner in her hand. "You'll have to forgive me…I just couldn't have resist…well, I could've, but I chose not to…and to answer your question as to why I'm wearing your boyfriend's trenchcoat….it's not really his coat….it's a replica…" She hopped on a crate, sitting on the edge as she faced Tash._

_Tash tilted her head. "He has more than one of the same coat…"_

"_Not exactly, dear…" Phoenixia grinned as she drew a leg up to her chest and clasped the knee and suddenly she was wearing a sexy red bikini, the top stretched so tight that Tash thought it would snap in half if she breathed to hard and her hair was suddenly a rich, honey-blond colour. "I'm a hardlight hologram, like in Star Trek or the like…there's a lot of higher-end complicated math and stuff, so I won't both explaining it…but since I'm a hologram, I can change my appearance at will…" She put a finger to her lips and looked thoughtful, as she was suddenly wearing a ball gown and her hair was a deep shade of pink that surprisingly matched the gown well. "Well, except my eyes…no matter how hard I try, they're always violet…" _

"_Wha…?" The British girl gaped at her. "You're a hologram, a computer program!?"_

"_Uh-huhhhh.." The digital woman smirked and nodded. "I am…a totally sentient, fully functional computer program, completely independent from anyone's control. But don't call me an AI…." She frowned and waggled a finger at Tash. "That implies I'm an 'artificial intelligence' and that I'm man-made. Nothing could be farther from the truth." She hopped off the crate and walked towards Tash, pushing the Chief Agent's Jaw shut with a finger. "And do try to keep that closed. You wouldn't want to swallow a fly."_

_  
Tash flushed bright red in embarrassment and shifted a bit. "How…? Who…? What…? Where…I mean-?"_

_Phoenixia chuckled again and her outfit changed again, this time to a pair of jeans and long-sleeved black sweater and a pair of stylish glasses perched on her nose and her black hair drawn into a bun, a pair of loafers on her feet. "That's a lot of questions, but I'll be nice and count it as one….." She gestured to the giant mecha in front of them. "That, my sexy Tashy, is Adrian's Zord….the Phoenix Zord and it's where I was 'born'. It posses a synaptic uplink, which means you can control it with mind, at least to a certain degree. Thorough a…certain series of events when Adrian was linked to the Zord, I was born. So I was created from of him…except I really wasn't…." She folded her arms and pouted, Tash faintly flushing red as she realized how sexy Phoenixia made the action seem. "You know, I can download every song in existence, hack through any firewall or security program and I still can't figure out how exactly how I was created…oh, well, I guess all sentient beings have that problem."_

_Tapping the spanner on her palm, she turned and grinned at Tash. "Now it's my turn to ask a question." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "So….how long did you think you could keep your project secret from Adrian?"_

_Tash tried her best to look innocent, but knew she was failing. "I don't know what you're talking about…"_

_The other woman snorted in disbelief. "Yeah right….so those parts you've secretly taking from the supplies, all those nights sneaking around with Emily, the tired mornings, trying secretly look at blueprints when you're supposed to working….all of that is in our heads?"_

_The British girl struggled to not let her jaw drop again. She knew Adrian always had an uncanny ability to know where she was in the Library and somehow always knew more about what was going on in the Library than he really let on, but she had thought she managed to pull one over him finally…with a few key pets to the ears to help her on the way. "How did you know…?"_

_Phoenixia smiled and clasped her hands behind her back, her outfit changing into a skirted-schoolgirl one, complete with blue ribbon around her neck, hazelnut hair trailing to her knees rocking back and forth on her heels. "Adrian is good at learning things you'd rather him not know, but even he can't be everywhere…" Her eyes twinkled. "And I do get awfully bored around here some days…."_

_Tash blinked. "Adrian has his sentient computer program spying for him….somehow, this does not surprise me at all…"_

"_I'm not his, per se. I do have free will. However, Adrian is one of the few individuals in the multiverse I find truly interesting and he and I have been together for centuries and I really don't see that changing anytime soon." Phoenixia replied, still rocking on her heels and smiling. "And while I can't go everywhere in the Library, as I need holoprojectors to move from room to room, I can work through the Library's computers and keep an eye on things that way."_

_The green imp of jealously, who had been lounging in the back of Tash's mind, gleefully got over being ignored and pushed his way up front. "You've known him for centuries...and change your appearance…and you've been alone with him all this time…"_

"_So you think he and I…" Phoenixia stopped rocking on her heels and raised an eyebrow. "Once upon a time, it could have been….but that was several centuries ago. Any passion and romance we had has changed into nothing more than a strong platonic love." She smiled and Tash was surprised at how sincere and heartwarming it was. "Adrian loves you…more than anything or anyone."_

"_Oh…." Tash flushed red and played with her hair, decidedly embarrassed. "I just thought…I mean…I know, that with how long he's lived, Adrian could have past girlfriends and I promised myself I'd try to be understanding…" She flushed more and shifted sheepishly. "I feel so bad for being jealous…"_

_Phoenixia smiled warmly and cupped Tash's cheek, looking into her eyes and Tash was once again strongly reminded of Adrian. "Don't feel bad…it's a natural reaction. It would be more concerning if you weren't ever jealous. Just remember, you're the one who's driven his nightmares way." She suddenly smirked sexily and trailed her hand down Tash's cheek and arm. "Of course…if you need proof…I'm certain the three of us could get together and have some fun….he'd definitely make sure you knew you were number one in his life…" She smirked more and her eyes gained a twinkle to them. "And I know I could help with that…being able to change how I look certainly has it's advantages…"_

_Tash blushed really red, swearing her cheeks were on fire. "It's an interesting idea, but I really don't think I'm really ready or…" Then she glared a bit as Phoenixia started chuckling, obviously struggling to hold back full-blown laughter. "Would you stop that!?"_

"_I'm sorry, I'm sorry….well, a little anyway…" The busty woman managed to regain control of herself. "And like you said, the idea's interesting…but I'm not to ruin a good thing by sticking my nose into it…" She cupped her breasts and hefted them a bit. "Well, these would probably beat my nose into anything…would you like to find out?"_

"_Stop making me blush!" _

_This time, Phoenixia burst out laughing, even as her outfit and hair changed back to the one Tash had originally seen her in. "Adrian is right! You are sooooo cute when you blush! And rather hot, too…"_

"_Nnnnnnnn…!" Tash growled/sighed and wondered if her face was going to say permanently blushed or she'd die from it first._

"She's definitely like Adrian…they just know how to nettle me!"_ she thought._

_Phoenixia reigned herself in, still chuckling a bit. "Alright, alright ….we've had enough fun…" The pair started for the door, the black/white haired woman still twirling the spanner in her hand. "I need you to me a favor, Tash….can you not tell the others about Adrian's hanger or me?"_

"_Well, sure…" Tash tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "But why?"_

"_It's just that in our experiences, both Adrian and I have realized that's it's a good idea to have some secrets stay that way. Gives one more options and an ace in the hole. Pluuusss…" Phoenixia grinned and twirled a lock of her hair around her finger. "According to Adrian, some of the Agents are bi and I'd be rather tempted to test that out…and he doesn't wanted love-tired Agents risking themselves on missions.."_

_Tash blushed and sighed. "Do you have to turn everything into innuendo, Phoenixia?" _

_Phoenixia stroked a length of her hair and looked deceptively innocent. "Nope….I just think it's fun…I'm just pure and chaste…"_

_The British Agent snorted. "Yeah…and I'm not crazy." She blinked as the spanner was suddenly thrust in her face and she took it, with a slightly confused look on her face. "Oh, thank you…"_

"_You're welcome…" Phoenixia smiled and gently pushed Tash towards the door. "And when you get the chance, tell Emily that I miss talking to her….she's really good with machines for her age and she and Adrian have that project, too…"_

"_Hey, you've met Emily? And what project? And why haven't we met you until now?" Tash squeaked as she was pushed out the door over her protesting questions and she turned back around, blinking in surprise as she found the door was no longer there. And she didn't remember how she got into the hanger in the first place. "Bwa…..I'll never be able to figure this bloody Library out…"_

OOO

"I will kill her..." Adrian muttered.

"Wouldn't that be a form of suicide, though?" Tash asked innocently, before stalking closer to her boyfriend, swaying her hips and causing the coins to jingle. "Don't be mad...I think you look great in this outfit..."

"Of course you do," Adrian scoffed, but he was finding it hard to keep his eyes on her face, when her hips were giving such a good show.

Smirking, Tash pressed herself against him. "Keep it on. For me?" She kissed him briefly. "Please?"

For a second, it looked as though Adrian would give in. Unfortunately, Michael could hold his laughter back no longer, and chose this moment to burst into loud hysterics. Claire and Miriku followed shortly afterwards, and Adrian's face went bright pink. With a small meow, he morphed into a fluffy white kitten, leaped onto the table, and then up again onto Tash's shoulder, and attempted to bury his face in her neck to block out the laughing.

"Dude...whiskers suit you," Michael choked out. Tash gave a giggle and took advantage of Adrian's embarrassment to snap a small violet collar around his neck.

"My kitten," she declared, picking him off her shoulder and cuddling him to her chest. "And now everyone knows i- ADRIAN! Get out from my shirt!"

For the bundle of white fur had wriggled out of her grasp, and slithered like a snake down the top of Tash's shirt, causing the coins to jingle merrily. Michael and Claire sank onto the sofa, howling with laughter, and Miriku had gone a strange shade of pink, and was doubled over clutching her sides as the co-leader collapsed into a giggling fit on the floor.

"_Never underestimate the Super-Kitty!"_ Adrian thought to himself, before curling up in embarrassment. "_I need a better name..."_

OOO

Emily was struggling to her teeth into this toffee apple. The fruit was too wide for her to be allowed to take anything more than a nibble, and doing so left her lips and nose all sticky from where she had to mash them into the toffee in order to take a bite. What she really needed was a knife, but who had ever heard of cutting toffee apples up?

"Pizza?"

"No..."

Emily giggled as she heard Valerie's complaints, and she seized a plate from the table and ducked underneath the cheap paper table cloth.

"Burger? They're really cool! They've got little cocktail sticks with tiny plastic skulls on the end stuck through them!"

"No!"

Stacey and Danielle pouted, as Emily's head appeared from beneath the table. Terrie noticed her first, and gave her a hand up, shaking long blue hair out of her eyes. She was dressed in a grey shirt, and blue tie, with long black armguards, a short black skirt and thigh high boots. Emily frowned for a minute, before snapping her fingers.

"Miku Hatsune, right Terrie?"

"Right!" the older girl nodded, pleased that she had been recognised. On her other side, Valerie smiled at the presence of the ten year old technician, especially when she held up the plate she had swiped.

"Reese's Cups?" she offered, knowing that the healer could not resist the peanut butter chocolate cups. Sure enough, Valerie, who was dressed all in black, with a burgundy cloak, immediately took one.

"Thank you Emily," she smiled, popping the chocolate into her mouth and allowing a blissful expression to bloom. Her white contact lenses were temporarily obscured as she closed her eyes to savour the taste. "Much better than fast food..."

Emily looked at the table, then over to Valerie, and then at the Reese's Cups, and back again, thinking very hard. Finally she gave the plate of chocolate to the healer, picked up the fattest burger she could see (bacon, cheese and lots of barbecue sauce), and began to eat. A small moan escaped her as she took the first bite.

"You're missing out," she informed Valerie, who rolled her eyes.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Monika chided. Emily blinked very slowly at her, before swallowing.

"I love the costumes guys," she added, blinking some more at Monika. "I didn't even know you could pull off dressing as a rainbow."

Monika giggled and bounced a little on the spot, causing Emily's eyes to water from the colour.

"Let's not stick you on the bouncy castle," Stacey suggested. She was wearing an elegant looking Chinese dress, and her hair was pulled back with two chopsticks speared through the centre. She was also fiddling with a camera, and was clearly fighting the urge to race around the room and snap photographs of everyone. True to the conversation, Monika was bouncy enough without the giant inflatable entertainment that had somehow been wedged into the room.

"It's not a bouncy castle, it's a bouncy jack-o-lantern," Emily corrected. "And don't ask me where Harriet got it from," she said quickly, as Danielle opened her mouth to ask just that. "I have no idea."

Danielle nodded in understanding. She was dressed in what appeared to be sixteen century formal attire – men's formal attire. No one had been brave enough to ask why she was crossdressing. "But if I were to guess, I'd say it was hired on the Society's budget?"

"You know her too well," Emily admitted, licking barbecue sauce off her lips. A loud shriek across the room caught the group's attention, and Stacey raced off, wielding her camera like some kind of weapon.

"What's going on over there?" Terrie asked, craning her neck and trying to see over people's heads (not an easy task even with platform boots).

Valerie pulled a face as she got a sense of what was going on over there. "At a guess, I'd say Adrian's molesting Tash...or possibly the other way around...but given that it was Tash who screamed..."

Danielle giggled loudly, and Stacey and Terrie both looked curious.

"How can you tell?" Stacey asked. "I can't feel it that strongly..."

"I know them too well," Valerie insisted. "Trust me."

"...he's...molesting her?" Emily's ten year old mind struggled to keep up with the conversation. When it finally clicked, she pulled a face. "Eeeew!"

OOO

"Umm..." Harriet paused in the action of taking a slice of pizza. "I hesitate to ask, but who are you?"

The fae turned slowly around, her own plate containing what appeared to be half the sushi that had been prepared for the party. "Umm...I'm Aster, Harriet-san."

Harriet resisted the urge to slam her face into her hand, but that would have involved an unnecessary waste of cider. "I know who you are, Aster. I was asking _who _you are."

She waved a hand at Aster's costume, which consisted of a navy blue skirt and blazer, black shoes and socks, a white shirt and a burgundy necktie. Her hair, which was normally tied up, was loose around her face.

"Oooh," Aster looked down at her clothes, and smiled. "I'm Tsuchimiya Kagura...didn't you recognise me?" she frowned. "We covered Ga-rei in my anime classes the other week."

Harriet could almost feel the metre ruler whacking against the back of her skull again and she took a sip of cider to soothe the ache. "Oh yeah...it all just came screaming back to me."

Satisfied, Aster took a good look at her superior. "What are you dressed as Harriet-san? Are you trying to be a demon?"

The leader's face morphed into despair. "No Aster, I'm a kangaroo!"

"Oooh...I see. I thought you were a demon because you were trashing everything with your tail earlier..."

"No I wasn't!" Harriet's voice had turned whiney, but fortunately for both of them, Aster had suddenly become very interested in the chocolate cookies (with spider webs drawn on them in icing), and so Harriet flounced off.

"Something wrong Harriet?"

The leader turned to see Jess, dressed as a ghostly Moulin Rouge dancer. Once again, her boobs were being heavily emphasised with the help of a corset. The force of her turn however, sent her tail sweeping under the feet of Karissa and Charis. Karissa, who was dressed as a ninja from Final Fantasy III, jumped clean over the tail, and landed softly back on both feet. Charis however, went sprawling ungracefully to the floor. Harriet turned to see the Quistis Trepe cosplayer on the floor.

"Oops! Sorry Charis."

"Harriet, have you thought about changing your outfit?" Jess asked, as the floored technician rose slowly to her feet.

"No!" the leader pouted. "It took me ages to find this outfit!"

FLASHBACK

"_No...no...no!"_

_Emily kicked her feet back and forth in the air, turning the page of All Out Cricket slowly, as her mentor huffed and shoved the outfits back on the rail they belonged. After Harriet's initial suggestion to have a party had been voted on and carried at the weekly meeting, the Leader had decided her next task was to find herself a costume...predictably however..._

"_Argh! None of these are right!"_

_Emily sighed. "Harriet, the Library has access to millions of costumes, in various colours, and different sizes. Why is it taking you so long to find something you like when you can potentially go as ANYTHING?"_

"_Its because I can go as anything that I'm having trouble!" Harriet growled, kicking over a stack of headdresses, that corresponded to the outfits on this particular rail._

"_Adrian is going to make you tidy those, you know?" Emily remarked casually, not looking up from the magazine. Harriet shot her a filthy look, and went back to pulling the costumes out and inspecting them._

"_I wonder why Adrian even HAS all these outfits, anyway?" Emily asked thoughtfully._

"_I don't know," Harriet called. "Undercover missions?"_

_Emily tilted her head to one side in further thought. "Even on those missions though he still wears trenchcoats. And even if he did use these for going undercover, what about the ladies clothes? And why in so many sizes?"_

"_I FOUND IT!" Harriet did not appear to be listening any longer. Instead she had pulled out, what looked like a large suit of brown fur. The closest thing Emily had ever seen to it was the hairy-brown suit worn by Hagrid in the Harry Potter movies. Then she got a look at the face in the bag and realised what it was._

"_Are you sure Harriet?"_

"_Its perfect!" the leader was declaring, and Emily sighed and went back to the magazine._

"_This will only end in tears..."_

OOO

A lithe figure slipped into the room, approaching the desk and chair with a sway of her hips. Her long purple hair was being repeatedly tucked behind her ears in a manner which bordered on flirty. Seated at a desk, the only piece of furniture in the room, was a skinny young man, with vibrant blue eyes, and snow white hair. Both of them were impeccably beautiful.

"Did you do it?" the young man questioned. The girl bobbed her head for a reply, and the man chuckled.

"Excellent...then sooner or later, the Society shall come looking for us. And then we shall have our revenge!"

"You're very cliché sounding you know?"

"Shut up and go administer the spell...the quicker they figure out what is going on, the quicker you and I can have our fun."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Well to say I was blown away by the response to the last chapter would be an understatement...thanks everyone for the reviews!

For the record (and for those who recognise it) a flashback in this chapter was taken and adapted from the RP thread of the Society forum. I hope it makes those involved smile.

I think from this chapter on, I've covered most of the agents that I can think of – even if you haven't been mentioned in costume (which probably means I don't remember what you were wearing, or there was no opportunity to explain it in my mind in which case it will be mentioned next chapter). For the record, since this takes place before Kyle is rescued in Society chronology, he's not present. I haven't forgotten him! He's just not there!

For now, read on my fellow agents and enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 2**

"I would!"

"Oh please! You'd have no chance!"

Emily appeared out of nowhere next to the three agents. Ossa appeared to be dressed as L from Death Note, and she was glaring fiercely at Jamie, whom Emily could only recognise by voice, due to the fact he was hidden beneath a Darth Vader costume. The argument seemed to be getting more and more heated, as Ossa tensed to spring, and Jamie pulled out a plastic lightsaber.

"What are they arguing about?" she sidled up to Aimee, who was trying to eat around her vampire fangs. The girl's red (contact lensed) eyes turned onto her with a smile.

"They're arguing over who would win in a fight between Vader and L," Aimee explained, chewing slowly on a cookie.

Emily, who had never read Death Note, but knew that it was a manga that Aster favoured, hurried off to find the fae, thinking that she could be useful in settling this dispute. She found her in the corner, where the massive DDR machine loomed over everyone, and occasionally made it difficult for anyone close to hear themselves think. Aster was humming to herself as she watched Chrys try to dance (try being the operative word, for the hanyou's clumsiness was becoming infamous among the Library).

"Aster," Emily stood beside the fae, who slowly turned her head towards her.

"Nani?"

"Who would win in a fight between L and Darth Vader?" Emily inquired. Aster thought for all of a second before her face split into a grin.

"L, of course!"

Emily smiled and handed her a box of pocky that she had pinched from Adrian's booby traps the night before. "Thank you."

And she scurried off.

Aster blinked a few times at the place she had been standing, before slipping a stick of pocky into her mouth. "Kyaa~ And she calls me strange..."

FLASHBACK

"_Shh! She'll hear us!"_

_Emily rolled her eyes. "She hasn't moved from that spot for fifteen hours – not even to eat! This has to be a new record!"_

"_I don't think so," Adrian shook his head, checking his watch as he did. "Her record for sitting in one spot with a stack of manga and not moving is seventeen hours and fifty two minutes. I counted."_

_Several Society agents' jaws dropped. As stated, there was Aster, sitting in what appeared to be some kind of manga fort, with nothing but a glass of juice in front of her, and a half eaten apple, which seemed to have been forgotten about, and was slowly going yellow as it oxidized. Her eyes were fixed on the page, and scanning quickly, right to left, without stopping._

_Giggling, Emily scrunched up a ball of paper from her exercise book (she had just come from an English lesson with Harriet) and threw it at the fae. It bounced off her head, but she did not look up or even acknowledge that she had been hit. Emily resisted the urge to burst out laughing._

"_I want a go!" Tash stated, pulling her notebook out of her bag and screwing up another page. It bounced off Aster's chest and landed on the manga. Aster absently flicked the paper off like a crumb of food and carried on reading._

"_Ten points if it gets stuck in her head," Emily stated._

"_Twenty if it lands on the manga," Tash added._

"_Fifty if it gets stuck in her cleavage!" Claire giggled, scrunching up another bit of paper and throwing it hard._

OOO

"Out! Out! Out!"

There were a series of loud jingling noises from the coins as Tash attempted to shake Adrian out of her shirt. The kitty Librarian was proving to be remarkably difficult to remove however, and so the leader's attempts only succeeded in making her look like a complete idiot. Several agents had stopped to watch in amusement, including Stacey, who was taking photographs to her heart's content.

"Adrian," Tash whined. "Come out! You're tickling in all the wrong places- OW!" she gave a shriek suddenly. "Watch the claws!"

Had anyone been able to see through the shirt, they would have seen Adrian smirking at this.

"Tashy...talking to your boobs won't make them grow," Harriet informed her friend. Tash noted the cider can clutched in the leader's hand, and she foretold that drunken singing was in the Society's near future.

"I'm not talking to them," Tash corrected. "I'm talking to Adrian. He's gone down my shirt." She blinked at her friend. "You changed your outfit?"

Harriet nodded and looked down at the cricket whites that she was now dressed in. She carried her trusty cricket bat over one shoulder. "Jess said the other outfit was impractical."

"...so you went from an outfit that could concuss people, to an outfit that is going to be a bitch to keep clean...yeah I _totally _see the practicali-Adrian!" she gave a yelp of surprise, which suddenly dissolved into a shiver and a soft moan. "No...not in public..."

Harriet's eyes went wide as Tash's cheeks turned a magnificent shade of pink.

"Right enough of this!"

The leader placed her cider carefully on the nearest table, and thrust her hands under her friend's shirt. The coins rattled at the movement, and the hiss of an angry cat came from within.

"Harriet!" Tash shrieked, her face going pinker as she struggled to stop the brunette from lifting her shirt right up over her head. Quite a few people had stopped to watch the show by this point, several agents with their jaws somewhere about their knees. Stacey had gleefully switched her camera to video mode and was filming the whole event.

"Oh please!" Harriet scoffed. "It's nothing we haven't done before. Now hold still!"

"Can you hold that pose a second, you two?" Stacey asked, crouching down to get a close up shot. "Beautiful!"

"Wow...I've never seen a person go that red before," Drake stated, stealing a cocktail sausage off the platter that Tyler was holding. The smallest agent had already inhaled a platter of sausage rolls, and scotch eggs by himself, and was making short work of the third tray.

There was some rummaging around, in which Tash gave off very loud squeaks, but eventually Harriet's hand reappeared, holding a squirming Adrian by the scruff of the neck. The kitten meowed in protest, before morphing back into the costume wearing Librarian (complete with violet collar). He looked very put out, though whether this was because he had been forcibly removed from his hiding spot, or whether he was unhappy with Harriet for molesting his girlfriend, no one could tell.

"I was comfortable under there," he protested. Tash folded her arms across her chest, as though the simple action would prevent any more molestation from her fellow agents.

"I could tell. You have a dirty mind, you know...and your claws need trimming!"

The Librarian pouted hard. Drake and Stacey however were snickering at him.

"Dude...what happened?" Drake asked, gesturing to the costume. Adrian opened his mouth to make a snappy retort, but was stopped by a loud gagging sound, and a crash as the platter of cocktail sausages fell to the floor.

"Tyler?" Stacey was feeling waves of panic flooding off the smaller agent, who was doubled over and clutching his throat. He was choking hard, and as the other agents gathered around, he seized Tash's arm to keep himself upright.

"I think he's choking!" Tash fretted, pulling him around and lowering his jaw. "He swallowed the cocktail stick!"

"Stacey, go get Valerie," Harriet's voice was strong and firm. "Tyler, try and cough for me. We're going to help you."

How she could remain calm in this situation was anyone's guess, but Stacey did as she was told, and Tyler's coughs became harder and more forceful. It was not enough though, and Harriet cursed loudly, before placing one arm firmly around his stomach, and using the other to whack him hard between the shoulder blades. Tyler's eyes began to water in pain and distress, but he continued trying to cough.

"I'm here!" the Society healer had felt Tyler's distress the instant it had started, and had already been racing across the room when Stacey had caught up to her. "What's he choking on?"

"Cocktail sausage," Adrian informed her. He was standing to one side, trying to calm down Drake, who was looking very upset to see his friend in such distress. Valerie frowned, before the pieces fell into place.

"The stick was still attached, wasn't it?"

"How did you guess?" Adrian asked. Harriet, who had given up on back slaps, and had begun abdominal thrusts, interrupted.

"Its Tyler," she stated, in between thrusts. "It's the sort of thing he'd do."

She smacked him three times more on the back before wrapping her arms below his rib and pulling upwards again. With a spluttering cough, the offending sausage and stick were spat out onto the floor, and Tyler began to pull in deep, desperate breaths.

"Put him here," Valerie instructed, shooing Pete and Charis off the sofa, and letting Harriet steer the pale looking agent down into the seat. She immediately set about checking there was no damage to his throat and treating him for shock.

"Move along everyone," Harriet declared, shoving people back with her cricket bat in order to give the healer some room. "Nothing to see here."

"Will he be alright?" Drake asked anxiously.

"He'll be fine," Valerie's voice was calm as she raised Tyler's feet onto the arm of the sofa. "Just needs to lie down for a bit."

"Thank the Gods..." Tash muttered.

"Okay, people, for the record," Adrian raised his voice. "The cocktail sausages have sticks in them. Remove the stick before eating."

"Kyaa~ Its Tyler-kun," Aster remarked from the DDR machine. "He's eaten radioactive material before and been fine."

"Yeah, radioactive material isn't often sharp and pointy though," Chrys pointed out. "And you don't sound too concerned?"

Aster shrugged. "His taste in food is appalling. I still haven't forgiven him for the time he turned my ramen into pasta..."

FLASHBACK

"_...How...do you not know what ramen is?!"_

_Aster's voice of disbelief was audible with piercing clarity to Rhia, as she staggered into the main kitchen wondering what on earth had possessed her to get drunk the previous night. She groaned as the strong lights hit her eyes, and the urge to vomit again rose as the smell of cooking hit her nose. Jess (who also looked mildly hung over) and Aster were standing over the cooker or various work surfaces, with kitchen appliances or food in front of them, while Cristoph and Tyler were seated at the table, watching with interest._

"_Because I eat pasta," Tyler stated simply, as Rhia sank into the chair next to her. Aster, in the middle of preparing the chicken in front of her, shook her head in disbelief._

"_You don't get any yakitori for that." She dropped what she was doing, and shoved a packet of instant ramen into the hands of the small stationary agent. "Cook that. And I'm not giving you a lid."_

_Tyler cursed under his breath, and hurried off to his assigned duty, scouring the back of the packaging for cooking instructions._

_Jess was humming _Nemo_ under her breath as she worked. "I am improving this soup!" She seemed to feel the horrified gaze of the other kitchen occupants, and added quickly. "I know what I'm doing!" She nodded sagely. "I have learned many important things at university. For example. I love miso soup. I love chilli powder. However, just because I love them both, does not mean that they go well together."_

_Aster leaned over curiously to survey Jess's creation. Cristoph shook his head in exasperation, and Rhia rested her head gently onto the table, in an attempt to stop the rapid throbbing of her temples. Tyler slunk silently into his seat, eating a strange looking bowl of pasta. Aster recognised it immediately and exploded._

"_You turned the ramen into pasta?!"_

_Before Tyler could even defend himself, the fae seized the bowl and dumped the contents onto the floor. That matter settled, she turned sweetly to Rhia. "Here Rhia-chan let me help you. You need a little bit of ponzu."_

_Tyler stared in disbelief at his wasted pasta before letting out a wail of despair. Rhia retrieved one of her wakizashi from her dressing gown belt, and whacked Tyler over the head with the hilt of it, in order to shut him up._

_Jess retreated from her soup temporarily. "I need sushi. And lots of it. Is there any going? I'm useless at making it."_

"_If I can keep it down, I'll eat it," Rhia stated gratefully to the two cooks, before thinking. "Who got me to my room last night?"_

_Jess shrugged, not knowing at all for she too had been very drunk the previous evening and did not remember how she herself had got to bed._

"_Cristoph did. I was asleep," Tyler stated, staring mournfully at his empty bowl. The ninja smiled and slid a glass of water over to Rhia, who took it gratefully._

"_Here," Aster was shoving rice in to be cooked. "It has to be warm...and this has to be really really cold." She took out fish from the refrigerator. "Do you want wasabi?"_

_Jess broke into a dramatic opera voice. "Wassabiiiii!" She coughed a few times, and went silent as she noticed the glare that Rhia was shooting her. "Oops, sorry Rhia. I guess that doesn't help..."_

"_I can confirm Lady Rhia," Cristoph said gently. "That I was the one who got you to your bed last night. I was one of the few not hyped up on enough sucrose to turn a cat inside out, so I took you back to your room."_

"_Cats turn inside out?" Tyler asked in surprise, as Aster let out a cheer and the food finished cooking, and she began dishing it out, instructing everyone to eat it while the hot and the cold were still separate. She swatted at Tyler as he began to eat however._

"_Hey!"_

"_No sushi for you, you unrefined Japanese food-hater!"_

OOO

"Rhia!"

The most respected chef of the Society, found herself enveloped in a boob-filled hug from one Jessica Leather.

"Will you come live with me when I go back to university? Pleeeeease?" she begged. "I'll pay you very well."

Rhia understood that 'live with' meant 'cook for', but she smiled none the less. "Sorry Jess, but I don't accept payment in metal songs or bondage tips."

Jess twitched. "Awww...well it was worth a try..." she paused and examined the girl in front of her. "You look nice. Who are you?"

Rhia wore a long, blood red dress, and had left her long hair loose down her back. "I'm Nimueh from Merlin."

"Oooh right," Jess nodded slowly, before reaching over and handing the younger girl a drink. "Cider?"

Rhia frowned and pointed to the bottle. "Wait...you brought alcohol to this party?"

Jess nodded. "Well yeah...its a party and most of us are overage..."

Rhia was about to point out that 'overage' was relative, since half of the agents were British and the other half were American, when Jess continued.

"And anyway, I didn't _bring _alcohol per say. Harriet and I stored it in one of cupboards in your kitchen, under lock and key. We're being careful about who we're giving it to."

"...right, and so far who have you given it to?" Rhia asked.

"Well..." Jess thought, before grinning widely. "Me and Harriet! No one else has wanted it, and there's a lot of it!"

Rhia groaned, as Jess took another swig. "Why are you storing it in my kitchen and not your room?"

Jess shook her head sadly. "Leonard. He goes ballistic if you bring alcohol anywhere near him."

FLASHBACK

"_Let's try this again Leonard," Jess sighed, pointing at herself. "Jess."_

_The conjoined twin blinked several times, before emitting a rasping noise that sounded like steam being let out of a kettle. Jess groaned._

"_This is getting nowhere..." she muttered, picking up her cider bottle and draining the lot. Leonard made an angry hissing noise at the sight of the alcoholic beverage, and launched himself at the bottle and began gnawing on the end. Jess gave a scream and yanked her hand out of the way, just in time to avoid the teeth._

"_Holy shit!" she swore loudly, before clapping a hand over her mouth, and shooting Harriet an apologetic look. The Society leader had clapped her hands over Emily's ears to protect them from the language, and the ten year old looked curiously up at her guardian._

"_Where's Miri with that pizza?" Harriet demanded impatiently, before looking down. "And how long has my bra been showing?" she added, readjusting her shirt._

_Emily apparently could not help herself, and she burst out laughing. Jess was snickering quietly in the corner, as Leonard just glanced up before going back to the bottle._

"_For the last forty five minutes," Tash said, checking her watch and groaning. "Damn it Hati! You couldn't have waited another fifteen minutes to notice?"_

"_Cough up guys!" Jess demanded, smirking and holding out a hand. "Bet is a bet."_

_Emily laughed harder as Harriet blinked in comprehension. "You were betting on how long it would take me to notice?"_

"_Gotta earn money for my next concert somehow," Jess grinned, taking the offered ten pound note from Tash. "You too Aster. You said it would take her an hour and a half!"_

"_Kyaa...I've got no money Jess-chan," the fae shrugged. Jess's jaw fell open._

"_Then why did you join the bet if you've got no money?"_

"_Oh I didn't realise," Aster shrugged. "I was looking for a Death Note volume and I wasn't listening to a lot of what you said."_

_Jess looked about ready to strangle the fae, but she was distracted by Emily, who had turned to the lone silent member of the room._

"_Did you bet, Adrian?"_

_The Librarian gave her a look that spoke volumes and slumped further into his girlfriend's lap. He was in a bad mood, though no one knew why. Adrian never spoke of his duties as the Librarian to anyone, not even his girlfriend, but everyone assumed something bad must have happened, as not even Tash could get him to snap out of it._

_Tash sighed. "Adrian, it's just a laugh. Please don't wilt again. It's depressing..."_

_She attempted to prop him back upright, but the Librarian merely wilted straight back into her lap._

"_Adrian..." Tash groaned, pulling him up again, only to have him wilt in the other direction. "Someone...get me a plant support!"_

_Giggling, Jess added the money to her purse and took another swig of her cider, however Leonard was silent this time – he had started chewing one of the cushions (succeeding strongly in resembling a hairless baby chimp with a piece of fruit) and didn't seem that interested in much else._

"_Making money off your leader's fashion mishaps..." Harriet was muttering. "I should lock you all in the most dangerous fandom in the world..."_

"_Pizza is here!" Miriku's voice called from the corridor._

"_FINALLY!" and just like that, all Harriet's thoughts of revenge were gone._

OOO

"Hey, we didn't request a flashback!" Jess objected to no one in particular. Rhia shrugged.

"It's a clipshow. It's supposed to be full of stupid flashbacks that make no sense..."

Emily, who was passing by, as the two finished this conversation, was struck by something odd, and paused in midstep, one hand clutching a slice of pizza, and the other holding the cricket ball that had just narrowly avoided taking off Ossa's head on the other side of the room.

"...why didn't the fourth wall rumble just now?"

OOO

"Ow!" Claire whined. "Human bodies were not supposed to bend this way!"

Struggling and squirming, she managed to place her right foot painfully across onto the other side of her left foot, and keep her balance.

"Done!"

"Okay, here we go," Miriku grinned, spinning the spinner and observing the scene with a large grin on her face. It really was a comical sight. Michael, Claire, Doug, Ben, Willie, Thought Marcus and Emotion Marcus were crouching over two Twister mats, placed end to end, and struggling desperately not to fall over themselves, as they fought to complete Miri's requests. The red-haired Pharaoh was taking great delight in making them all bend in ways that the human body was not supposed to.

"Aniki," Miriku smiled, nudging the spinner a little so that no one could see. "Right hand green."

The sound of a hand being peeled off the plastic mat was the only response to the request.

"...oi," Claire warned her boyfriend with a light reprimanding glare. Michael smiled innocently.

"Sorry baby. I thought that was right hand green."

Miriku sighed. "Any excuse Aniki..."

"Hush Imoto," Michael ordered, placing his hand in the required space. "Done!"

"Thought Marcus..." Miri spun the dial again, and decided she liked the choice it landed on. "Right foot blue."

"I-I-I d-don't t-think t-that w-will b-be p-p-possible..."

"JUST DO IT!" Emotion Marcus bellowed. "MY NECK WON'T STAY THIS WAY FOREVER, AND I WANT MY TURN!"

"B-B-But i-its..."

"DON'T MAKE ME COME OVER THERE!"

Shaking like a leaf, Thought Marcus moved slowly and carefully. Miriku tensed, positive that he was about to fall, but to her disappointment, he succeeded, and she sighed, before spinning the spinner.

"Emotion Marcus...left foot red."

"ABOUT TIME!"

OOO

There was something about pizza that had always relaxed Tash into a semi-dazed state, where nothing in the world could bother her. It helped of course, when one had a fluffy, warm kitten sitting on ones chest, purring contently as his ears were petted.

"Mmm...I'll dance for you later Emiushere. You want that?"

Adrian's ears perked up and he looked eagerly up at his girlfriend with a happy smile on his adorable face. Tash gave a giggle and bent down to kiss his nose.

"Hey Tash...is that Adrian?" Ossa skidded to a stop next to the sofa upon which the Chief Agent was reclining, Jamie right behind her, swinging his lightsaber in a mildly threatening manner.

Before Tash could answer the question, the kitten morphed back into her boyfriend, and she let out an undignified squeak as she was pressed firmly into the cushions by his weight. "You did that on purpose!"

"Can't blame a guy," the Librarian shrugged, before kissing her gently and causing all of Tash's discomfort to magically evaporate.

There was a loud clearing of a throat, and both of them broke away blushing.

"Sorry, what were you saying?" Adrian asked.

"I didn't say anything," Ossa stated, a slightly amused look on her face. "I came to ask, who would win in a fight between L and Darth Vader?"

Adrian frowned, looking between the two agents and eventually pointing at the one on the right. "Vader. Definitely."

Ossa growled, as Jamie looked triumphantly up at her with a smirk. Tash interrupted.

"But in a fight between Ossa and Jamie, I'd give the edge to Ossa."

"Hey!" Jamie deflated, and his smirk seemed to slide onto Ossa's face instead. "Why?"

"Dude, she's six foot. _I'd _think twice about fighting her," Tash told him bluntly. "I'm sorry if that insults your masculinity, but it's the truth."

Pouting, Jamie wandered away to get food, followed by a highly satisfied Ossa.

"You really know how to deflate a guy's ego..." Adrian sighed. Tash petted him on the ears and cuddled him tight.

"Its a gift my love..."


	3. Chapter 3

_Welcome to the Aperture Science Mary-Sue Elimination training program. If you complete this Society fanfiction, there will be cake._

I do not own the lyrics to "I am a cider drinker".

Quite a bit of Leadershipping in here – I didn't intend for the chapter to turn out that way, that was just what happened.

This chapter is a celebration chapter. Five years ago to the day, I found this website, and signed straight up to join in the chaos. I can't imagine my writing, or indeed my life without fanfiction right now – I wouldn't be half as good as I am now, and I wouldn't have half the friends I have now.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

The music was almost deafening, and drowned out most of the agents speaking, and even the DDR machine. Karissa and Charis, who were currently making use of the machine, were falling over themselves as the obnoxious singing threw them off the music that they were supposed to be dancing to.

"When the moon shines, on the cow shed! And we're rolin' in the hay! All the cows are out there grazing. And the milk is on its way!"

Everyone groaned loudly, as Harriet and Jess seemed to bounce higher and higher on the bouncy Jack-o-lantern. This was their second rendition of this particular song, and they had just finished treating everyone to a rousing round of "I've got a brand new combine harvester".

"I am a cider drinker! I drinks it all of the day!"

As they sung they clanked their cider bottles together and took swigs. It was amazing that they had not managed to spill any over the bouncy castle.

"I am a cider drinker! Soothes all me troubles away!"

"Here it comes..." Tash muttered, all too familiar with this song (it was one of Harriet's regular drinking songs).

"Oh arr oh arr aay! Oh arr oh arr aay!"

The sober leader palmed her face into her hand. On her shoulder, Adrian had hidden his white kitten face into her neck, and had his paws clamped firmly over his ears to try and block out the noise.

"How long can they go at this?" Val asked, awe in her tone. "They've been bouncing on that thing for fifteen minutes and not been sick...or spilt any cider...or bounced that jack-o-lantern right through the ceiling."

"Hmm..." Tash's gaze was fixed somewhere in the region of Jess and Harriet's chests as they flung themselves around the bouncy Jack-o-lantern. "Not the only thing that's bouncing..." She noticed no less than seven pairs of eyes on her and blinked. "Oh like I was the only one thinking it!"

"This is one of the longest music recitals we've ever had," Terrie stated. The rest of Val's team were nodding in agreement. "Worse than the time Michael got hyper on British chocolate and sang Without Yugi for two hours straight..."

Everyone turned their heads back to the Twister mats, where the epic game was still going on.

"Emotion Marcus!" Michael was groaning, trying to twist his head to one side. "Get your butt out of my face!"

"YEAH THAT'S WHAT HE SAID..."

"Right foot yellow!" Miri shouted, interrupting the argument. Claire gratefully moved, her foot, which was twisted at an awkward angle. However she missed the circle and accidently kicked Michael's hand out from underneath him, sending her boyfriend crashing on top of her. Both of them were flattened against the floor, with groans of pain.

"Hmm...this is an angle we've never tried before..." Michael commented, as soon as he realised just how he had landed. Claire wriggled out from underneath him and crawled between the other players and off the mat. Michael followed, with a slightly relieved expression.

"Thought Marcus, left hand blue," Miriku instructed. Shaking, Thought Marcus stretched and leaned as far over as he could for the only free blue circle within his arm length. At the movement next to him, Doug wobbled slightly and gave Thought Marcus a small nudge with his hip, and the thinking half of the Society agent landed face first onto the mat, his glasses giving a nasty crunch as they impacted with the floor.

"Thought Marcus is out," Miriku stated, wincing as Doug fell over too with a thud. "So is Doug."

Grumbling, Doug got to his feet, while Thought Marcus just scurried over to a sofa to inspect his glasses, and was immediately wrenched to his feet by a surprisingly military looking Aster. Doug straightened the bent pieces of paperwork that made up his costume (he was dressed as some kind of paper monster – apparently parodying the Society's ridiculous amount of pointless paperwork) and made his way over to what was left of the food, and began searching for any decent sandwiches that had been left by the hungry agents. It was gratifying to see that most of the plates had been completely cleared – he had been one of the agents who had volunteered to help Rhia do the cooking for the party.

Cristoph materialised, as he always did – seemingly out of nothing, and approached the table too. He did not appear to have dressed specially for the evening, preferring instead to remain in his ninja outfit.

"A word of advice Lord Doug," he said. "Don't go near Aster – she has had a great deal of sugar and is trying to start a dance."

Doug paled. "What dance?"

"The Haruhi dance I believe."

"You mean that torture that she's been putting us through learning each anime class for the past three weeks? The reason I got whacked around the face with a metre stick and could not see straight for seven hours? _That's _considered dancing?"

"Apparently so," Cristoph nodded in a grave manner.

"...the author does not want us to survive with our sanity intact, does she?" Doug asked, stuffing a sandwich into his mouth.

"You have sanity?" Cristoph asked in surprise, for he had always been under the impression that he was one of the saner members of the Society.

Neither of them noticed Emily nearby, chewing her lip in worry, before sprinting out of the room at top speed.

FLASHBACK

"_What are you two doing?!"_

_Adrian and Tash seemed to shrink to half their sizes in their seats, as their stern looking teacher stood above them, metre stick in one hand, copy of Azumanga Daioh in the other._

"_I look up during my class and I see the Society leader and the Librarian at the back of the classroom, _not _doing their work," Aster sounded incredibly fierce. "Were you two making out under the desk?"_

_It was hard to tell who went more red – though most people would have said Adrian by a shade. Tash attempted a suck-up smile, which just came off as incredibly nervous._

"_We were doing extra curricular activities!"_

_Aster peered over the desk and saw a spread of cards on the floor. "You two were playing YuGiOh under the desk?!"_

"_Its anime!" Adrian butted in. "It counts!"_

"_Skiving your assignments to play a children's card game is against classroom rules!" Aster declared. "You both get a penalty!"_

_She placed her stick in the centre of the field and swept the cards all over the place._

"_Hey!" Tash wailed. "I was winning!"_

_Adrian snorted. "Like hell you were! I was two moves away from beating you!"_

"_Oh please! I had a counter already set u-"_

_The metre stick slammed between the two of them, and they jumped and faced their strict teacher._

"_Sorry Aster-sensei," they both said in unison, hanging their heads. Aster seemed satisfied, and turned to face the front of the classroom._

"_Let that be a lesson to all of you. Playing YuGiOh under the table in my class is a bad idea! Now, onto Azumanga Daioh..."_

_She trailed off as her eyes settled over the seats belonging to Michael and Claire, situated in the third row of desks. The couple were nowhere to be seen, but Aster's ears had just caught a small giggle coming from the floor, and she marched straight over and slammed her metre ruler on top of the abandoned desks. The couple gave startled yells and reappeared in their seats, blushing furiously._

"_Lazy students," Aster muttered. "Now, as I was saying..."_

OOO

"Hey, who requested that flashback?" Tash demanded, hands on her hips.

"Don't look at me," Chrys was shifting uncomfortably, already anticipating the moment she would fall over during this dance routine.

"Shh! The music is starting!" Aster said excitedly, as Ben (who was stretching his limbs after the marathon game of Twister) hit the play button on Harriet's laptop, and Hare Hare Yukai began to blast from the speakers.

Aster immediately began to sing along, while the rest of the agents who had been roped into dancing just copied the dance moves half heartedly (with the exception of Chrys and Tash, who were actually trying to do the dance right). Thought Marcus was having difficulty seeing through broken glasses and tripped over his own feet, before just giving up, walking away from the dance in disgust, and going back to watch the Twister game. Charis was doing okay, until Pete stumbled into her, and the two leaped away blushing furiously.

"Sorry!" they both squeaked in unison, before backing out of the dance. Several agents snickered at their retreating backs, including Tash, who was being shot dirty looks by Aster, for the coins on her outfit were doing a good job of drowning out the music being made by the laptop's limited speaker volume.

Finally Adrian (who had been clinging fearfully to Tash's shoulder throughout the whole dance) leaped off her shoulder and morphed back into human form in the midst of the dance. About half the dancers (those who had not seen his costume) burst into giggle fits, and Adrian seized his girlfriend and picked her up over his shoulder.

"Adrian!" Tash screeched. "Put me down!"

"Nu uh!" the Librarian declared, marching away from the dance, and over to a vacant sofa. "I was getting nauseous, sitting on your shoulder while you danced."

He dumped her onto the sofa, before sitting down next to her, and yanking her into his lap. Tash squirmed, but not that hard.

"You're mean..." she declared. Her boyfriend's response was to kiss her on the nose.

"You don't really believe that. Now pet me."

Tash was going to object to the other, but Adrian pulled the cutest face he could muster, his eyes going wide and watery, and his ears flattening to his head in the most adorable fashion. His tail swished slowly from side to side and his fur seemed to triple in fluffiness. Tash gave a moan and immediately succumbed to the kitty eyes, petting his ears softly. The Librarian purred.

"You know that face will kill me one day..." Tash muttered, but she could not be mad for long – her eyes had just been drawn to the bouncy Jack-o-lantern, where Harriet and Jess were still bouncing. Doug slid slowly down one side of the inflatable, and loomed over the two, rustling his papers in a creepy fashion.

"Woooooooo!"

Both girls screamed and raced away, leaving Doug to fall over himself laughing. He gave a yell however, as one of Cristoph's ninja stars seemed to materialise out of nowhere and embedded itself into the plastic. There was an almighty hiss and air slowly began to escape from the bouncy castle.

"Someone should go help him," Tash muttered absently, still stroking Adrian's ears, as a Doug-sized form flailed from within the deflated plastic.

"Uh huh..." the Librarian replied absently. "Really should..." He squirmed into a more comfortable position and began purring. Tash sighed.

"Well don't volunteer immediately or anything..."

"Mmm…"

FLASHBACK

_Waking up in pain was nothing new to Adrian. He had lost track of the number of times he had got himself involved in a fight that had a bad outcome. Such was the life of a hero – you were destined for a world of pain, and a multitude of suffering. But you still didn't give up. When life flung pain in your face, you got back up and carried on until your body was on the verge of breaking apart._

_What was new to the Librarian, was the Library hospital. Normally when he regained consciousness after a fight he lost, he was either still in the same place he had passed out in – his opponent having died at the same time. Or he was being held prisoner by whoever had captured him…he had to shudder as he remembered the last time that had happened, and he immediately banished the horrific memories._

_He rarely woke up in the Library after a huge battle that left him almost dead. Who would have moved him here when so few people knew its existence and could actually get in? Then his brain caught up with the situation. The Society must have moved him…_

_And like a flood, the memories of the fight came back, along with the pain his various limbs. Runoa had unleashed the Gate of Babylon. All those swords had flown at him…there had been pain, so much pain as he fought them off…and then the Society had shown up and…_

_His left arm had something warm and heavy resting on it, and he opened his eyes a crack. The light of the Library seared through his retinas, and he hissed softly. A hazy golden blob was resting on his arm, and the familiar tingling pins and needles sensation had settled there. It took all of his strength, but he managed to twitch his fingers softly. The blob gave a groan, and seemed to rise slightly. As Adrian blinked more, his vision came into focus, and he could see that the blob was actually Tash's head._

"Heh…silly Tashy. She's practically in the bed with me…"_ he thought in a disjointed manner. The Society leader was lying by his side, with her legs dangling off the end – she had obviously started out sitting and had fallen asleep while watching him. As he watched, she twisted her head around to face him. She was pale, except for the black circles of tiredness. Her eyes themselves were puffy and red._

"_Adrian?"_

_The Librarian nodded slowly, wincing at the stiffness in his neck, and the pain that appeared as he moved. "Hello."_

_Tash sat slowly upright, staring as though she could not quite believe he was really there, awake and smiling softly at her. Adrian did notice that her fist was trembling from clenching it tightly. Then he realised that she had started crying again, and all of her emotions flooded out along with her tears._

"_You're an idiot!" she burst out. "A stupid, heroic idiot! You know that?!"_

_Her raised voice brought Valerie running from her office, and she immediately began to restrain Tash, who looked torn between slapping Adrian and sobbing all over him._

"_Do you have any idea how bloody terrified I was?!" she continued to scream. "Do you know what it's like to be shoved back and watch someone risk their life for you, and then feel them dying in your arms?! Can you imagine what its like watching someone you lo-"_

_She cut herself off with a horrified look, and like magic, her crying seemed to double in volume to smother out the rest of her ranting. Valerie carefully lowered her onto the next bed, whispering that she shouldn't put Adrian through any kind of stress in his condition. The leader curled up and sobbed into her knees, while Valerie loomed into Adrian's line of sight, a relieved smile on her face._

"_I'm glad you're back with us," the healer told him, glancing over her shoulder at the hysterical Tash. "So is she."_

_Adrian's smile widened. "I did promise I wouldn't die..."_

"_You still shouldn't have pushed yourself that hard," Valerie informed him, checking that none of his injuries had been disturbed. "What was the point? Runoa still got away, and you're going to be out of action for quite some time now – and you will be staying in this bed!" she added firmly, as the Librarian made to protest. "And believe me, I have plenty of ways of making you stay – and not all of them are necessarily fun for you."_

_Deflating, Adrian leaned back against the pillows, and allowed her to check his light reactions. "Whatever the doctor says."_

_Valerie gave a satisfied smile. "Good, you're learning...you look fine to me. No permanent damage except scarring, so a week in bed and another two weeks or so taking it easy – and by that I mean no missions what so ever –" she interjected before Adrian could ask her to define it. "You will be as good as new."_

_Adrian sighed. "Thanks Val."_

"_Any time," the healer assured him. "Now you rest. I'll be back in a bit."_

_She turned and faced Tash sternly. "Now no exciting him, alright?"_

_Tash muttered her response, but it seemed enough to satisfy Valerie, who hurried off, humming All I Ask Of You. The Society leader waited until she was out of earshot, and slid slowly off the adjacent bed, approaching the Librarian with her head hung. For a moment, Adrian was sure he was about to get yelled at again._

"_...I thought I'd – _we _had lost you," she corrected herself._

_Apparently the yelling was over._

"_I know," Adrian nodded slowly. Tash swallowed hard and raised her head._

"_Promise me...promise you'll never do something that reckless again."_

_Another sigh – this time heavier – broke free from the Librarian._

"_I'm sorry Tash...I can't do that."_

"_Why?!" the leader burst out. "Do you like putting yourself in this kind of danger? Does it make you feel good to know that we all worry ourselves sick when you get hurt? Does it?!"_

"_Of course I don't like it!" Adrian retorted sharply. "But I've got no choice!"_

"_You always have a choice, Adrian!"_

_She was not screaming any more – now she had just gone back to hysterical sobbing, which somehow, Adrian found worse than being yelled at. Valerie had reappeared, and began to usher the leader from the hospital, telling her to come back when she was less upset. Adrian closed his eyes and went back to staring at the hospital ceiling._

"I wish I did have a choice Tash...but I don't."

_The brutal truth of the situation was no comfort at all as he slowly drifted back to sleep._

OOO

Emily yanked open the next door and found one of the reading rooms that she was familiar with, and kept on running, not bothering to close the door behind her. She had to check on this as fast as possible. She had to find out what was wrong – because there was something wrong. She could feel it. Something was happening at this party and she was going to find out what.

She was thankful that the Library seemed to have sensed her intentions – the rooms seemed to be rearranging themselves to make her journey quicker. Some of the rooms and corridors were familiar, and some were not. Or maybe she was just nervous, allowing her frightened energy to propel her footsteps faster across the rooms. Maybe she was so anxious that she had completely failed to acknowledge that she had already walked through the rooms.

She should have guessed that something was going to happen. It seemed that the Society was one of those groups that were destined not to enjoy themselves. Fate it seemed, did not want them to have fun.

She came at last to the door she needed – Adrian's office. Normally neigh on impossible to find unless you asked the Library nicely for it and prayed that you were heading in the right direction. The door was unlocked (to her surprise) but she hurried through it, with no hesitation in her step, but rather trepidation all over her ten year old face.

She had been in the Librarian's office before – with Adrian himself present obviously – and she knew just where she was going. Her feet knew that what she was looking for was beyond this...she supposed it was a door. It was the same colour of the walls, and had no door knob, or handle, or keyhole. In fact were it not for the indent of couple of centimetres, she would never have known it was a door at all. She closed her eyes for a moment to check, and had no doubts. As a fictional character (of sorts) she could sense its presence, and knew it lay behind this door. Slowly, she reached out to push it...

And suddenly she was no longer in Adrian's office. Surprised (and a little fearful of what she might find) Emily peered at her new surroundings, after confirming that the door was still behind her for when she wanted to leave.

The room was dark. She could not tell where the faint amount of light was coming from, but it cast a haze over the high, stone arched ceiling. It was cold, and the stone floor was freezing her bare feet. Her senses urged her on, and she walked slowly, and nervously forward, trying to keep her eyes dead ahead to where she knew her goal lay, afraid that if she took her eyes of it for a second, it would vanish.

And yet, she found it so hard to focus – out of the corner of her eyes, half hidden by shadows, she thought she saw things...moving things in the darkness, too far away in the various nooks of the corridor for her to identify. Shadows seemed to creep along the walls, reaching out to ensnare trespassers and drag them into the darkness. She shivered, and her steady footsteps were interrupted by a shudder of nervousness, which seemed to echo forever.

She had never been in a crypt before, and she wondered if this was what they were like – they were certainly how she had always imagined them. Tall ceilings, stone everywhere like some kind of prison for the dead bodies. And the bodies themselves, lying on flat, open stone beds, covered in old flimsy white shrouds, shielding the decaying flesh and brittle bones from anyone foolish enough to disturb them. She remembered that tonight was Halloween, and suppressed a whimper as she wondered if this place was haunted.

It seemed like forever before she reached the end of the corridor, but when she did, she knew she had come to the right place. Piles of fresh books, manuscripts and half complete pages, which Emily knew were waiting to be sorted onto the correct shelves, lay still where they had been placed – which Emily knew was wrong. The books should be floating off to the correct section of the Library, to be catalogued and shelved by the Librarian, not just laying there doing nothing.

She took another step forwards and immediately fell back, cursing and rubbing her forehead.

Someone had erected a barrier, blocking her from reaching her destination. It was like a clear piece of plastic, and as Emily placed a hand gently on it, it felt as smooth as glass, before forcing her hand away like two positive sides of a magnet, placed end to end.

Beyond the barrier, lay the wall, cast in shadow, but the various sections of brick, wood, concrete, stone and paper were all visible, extending all the way up to the high arched ceiling. All forms of building material were mishmashed together and tied together with a chaotic collection of string, glue, cement and copious amounts of duct tape. Between the cracks in the wall, words oozed through, glimmering and shimmering in the low corridor light, before they dissipated like dust particles in the air. Wedges of paper were folded up and jammed between cracks in the wall, and as Emily watched, a small plothole slid open, and a new manuscript slipped slowly through, before the gap to Real Life slid slowly shut.

Emily pressed hard against the barrier, struggling to get through, but once again, she was forced backwards, landing on the floor painfully, the wall looming above her like an impossible challenge.

Something moved in the corner of her vision again, sweeping behind one of the archway pillars, and with a small scream of terror, Emily scrambled to her feet and bolted back the way she had come, trying to fill her mind with the one piece of information she had learned in this room in order to distract herself from her fear.

The way was shut, the Fourth Wall sealed off.

FLASHBACK

_CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!_

"_What on Earth is that?" Valerie demanded, heading into the reading room. Adrian was leaning back on a sofa, occasionally looking up when there was a particularly loud echoing crash from the hallway, obviously anxious about the state of his Library. Marcus was buried behind a book titled "The 1000 most Memorable Quotes of all Time". Harriet was reading a copy of All Out Cricket, her laptop in front of her, drafting a letter that was no doubt intended to insult the bowling, batting, fielding capabilities and general appearance of certain English cricketers._

"_Tash chasing Blake with a frying pan."_

_The leader's voice was casual, as though she were doing nothing more than reciting a shopping list. Valerie's eyes opened wide and she turned to face the source of the disturbance._

"_Shouldn't we go help him?" she demanded. Harriet shrugged._

"_Personally I think he deserves it..."_

"_Harriet!" Valerie's voice was heavily reproachful. "Whatever he's done it doesn't warrant being chased!"_

"_It does when Tash is PMSing," Harriet corrected._

"_You women use PMS to excuse anything," Marcus muttered, looking up from his book in time to see Harriet's head swing round sharply, and her most evil glare (which was usually reserved for cricketers by the names of Matt Prior and Steve Waugh) affix itself to him._

"What _did you just say?!" she snapped, and Marcus thought better of repeating himself – he was rather keen to leave the reading room with all pieces of his anatomy attached where they were supposed to be._

_Bang! Bang!....CRACK! Thump..._

"_...Tash knocking herself out with the frying pan." Harriet filled in for the confused people._

"_Hooray!" Adrian cheered, his kitty ears twitching. "I can eat my oreos now without fear!" And he shot off to his office. Valerie sighed, and turned her head in the direction that the rampage had been coming from._

"_I suppose I'd better go patch them up. Can you help me move Tash please Harriet?..." She blinked several times, having turned her head back to the sofa, to find that the leader had mysteriously vanished. "Umm...Harriet?"_

"_Oooh Adrian!" the leader's voice echoed the way the Librarian had vanished. "Did I hear you say something about oreos?"_

OOO

"These flashbacks are getting really annoying!" Rhia complained.

"Yeah, they interrupt me every time I try to eat..." Tyler whined, replacing the cupcake on his paper plate. Rhia blinked at him in surprise.

"You're eating after what happened earlier?"

Tyler looked confused. "Of course. I just choked on a stick. It's not like I'm dying..."

Rhia was sorely tempted to point out that he could have died, but decided that it was not worth the effort. Clearly it would take some sort of miracle to stop Tyler from eating, though she was still mystified as to where the small agent put the weight – mystified and a little annoyed.

"Hey guys!"

Rhia was not particularly pleased to hear Jess's voice – especially not when it was that giggly. The buxom brunette had spent most of the last quarter of an hour headbanging along with the music (no one had wanted to tell her that it was not really the kind of music you headbanged to). Rhia and Tyler approached Jess, to find her leaning over another of the sofas, carrying a sleeping Charis in her arms. On the sofa was Pete, snoring softly as he dozed.

Before either of them could stop her, Jess placed Charis on the sofa, and began rearranging the two bodes so that they were cuddling in their sleep.

"Awws!" Harriet giggled, sitting on the end of another sofa. There was a surprised squeak, and Harriet realised too late that she had sat on Tash's feet. The leader broke away from kissing her boyfriend (who mewled in annoyance) to rub her sore toes.

"Harriet, you sat on my feet!" Tash complained.

"Oh noes!" Harriet wailed. "What will we do?!"

Adrian lifted one pale eyebrow as he regarded the tipsy leader. "Should we take her to bed?"

"Oooh please!" Harriet sounded entirely too enthusiastic about that, and too late, Adrian realised what his sentence had implied, causing him to blush a furious shade of red, and morph back into kitty form, in order to better hide under the sofa.

"Awws!" Harriet pouted. "No kitteh..." She flopped lethargically onto Tash, burying her face somewhere in her chest. "Mmm...Hello Tashy's boobies."

Sighing heavily, Tash slipped an arm around her friend, and hauled her unsteadily to her feet. "Come on Hati. Let's get you some carbs."

As the duo made their way unsteadily to the tables of food, Emily bolted into the room, her face pale, and her eyes searching the masses hastily as though any second something would happen to prevent her finding the one person she really needed...

"Emily?" Valerie's voice was tight with concern, particularly when she saw the young girl's face. "Are you okay?"

"I need to find Adrian," Emily said urgently. "Right now!"

"He's under the sofa," Valerie informed her, pointing at the sofa across the room, where she could see a distinctive white furry tail poking out from underneath. Emily muttered a brief thanks, before pushing through the crowd and forcing her way to the Librarian. Valerie's forehead was still pinched in worry.

"I hope everything is okay..." she muttered, before turning back to her group of friends. Her eyes widened.

"What happened to my Reese Cups?" she demanded, pointing at the empty plate. In unison, all her friends pointed to Chrys, who had chocolate smeared in the corners of her mouth, and was blinking innocently.

"...what? Aster was going to eat them..."

FLASHBACK

"_Damn it, this one is tough!" Michael growled._

Its a level seven Stu you fool, _the Darkness replied sarcastically._ Did you expect this would be a walk in the park?

"_If you don't have something helpful to say-"_

"_MICHAEL!"_

_There was just enough time for two snake-like tentacles to block the blade, an inch in front of Michael's nose, before a third one exploded through the middle of the Duel Spirit and caused it to vaporise on the spot. Michael staggered to his feet, sword in hand, sweat plastering his hair to his scalp._

_In the middle of the park stood the Stu, surrounded by numerous Duel Spirits, most of whom Michael was not familiar with (the author of this particular fanfiction had made a deck full of original and insanely overpowered cards for their character, before said character had decided to break free and go on a Stuish rampage). Two more of them charged for the Society agent, but before they could do anything there was a cry of "Juari-Ken – Tairenso!" and both spirits went flying through the air, their bodies wreathed with flames, before they exploded into nothingness. Tash landed a little way off, and gave Michael a wide grin._

"_So Victorious Reginald...whatever your name was," Tash shrugged her staff over her shoulder and waved a Prohibitor in her hand. "You ready to come quietly?"_

"_Like hell I am!" Victorious removed the cards from his active Duel Disk and shuffled them back into his deck. "If I can't outfight you, I can still outduel you! I challenge you both!"_

_Michael and Tash exchanged a look, before smirking at each other and activating their own duel disks. This one had enough arrogance to fill a duelling stadium – defeating him would be no problem, even if his deck was overly powered._

"_Game on!"_

OOO

"Michael?" Claire poked her boyfriend hard, and he ceased his spacing out.

"Huh? Sorry baby," Michael blushed. "I was having a flashback."

"Another one?" Claire sounded worried. "That's the fourth tonight. This isn't normal at all."

She swiftly got off her boyfriend and to her feet, hurrying over to the food table, where Harriet was eating her way through a very nice looking pile of sandwiches. Tash was drinking a small shot glass filled with chocolate from the fountain that Rhia and Doug had finally managed to get working. Various agents were now gathered around, sticking bits of fruit or marshmallows in to coat them in warm sticky chocolate.

"Hey!" Ben whined. "That's not fair! The author of this story said in her note for this chapter that there would be cake, not chocolate fountain!"

"Only when she completes the story," Drake corrected, chewing a piece of chocolate covered apple slowly.

Ben blinked. "So...the cake is a lie?"

"The cake is not a lie!" Miriku hissed at them, throwing her head back to finish her chocolate shot. Claire blinked slowly, and wondered why the fourth wall was not breaking, before turning to the person she needed.

"Tashy?" Claire approached the leader. "Michael says he keeps having flashbacks..."

Tash frowned and placed her half full shot glass on the table, wiping the chocolate off her lips as she did. "That's strange...there have been so many going around tonight. Maybe I should talk to Adrian about it."

She was distracted as Harriet knocked one of her sandwiches to the floor. The leader's face fell.

"Oh noes!" she cried. "What will we do?!"

Tash sighed and scooped the sandwich up, throwing it into the rubbish bag tied to the end of the table. "Not eat it, for a star-"

She was cut off, as for the second time that night, a platter crashed to the floor – this time knocked over as a body slumped onto the table in what seemed to be a dead faint, and knocked the food flying.

Panicked descended and frantic voices instantly filled the room.

"Ben?!"

"Drake? Say something!"

OOO

Adrian barely registered Emily, clinging tightly to his coat, and casting fearful looks at the shadowed niches along the corridor. His concentration was focused entirely on the wall before them, that for reasons beyond his comprehension had been blocked off from him and everyone else.

"This is impossible!" he whispered, shaking his head. "This is just impossible!"

And for the first time ever, Emily heard fear in the Librarian's voice.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **I tried to make this chapter creepy and tense, but it turned into crack towards the last few scenes. Now my brain is on the crack train it doesn't wanna get off.

Small request from everyone: We need a shipping name for Pete and Charis! I'm getting tired of the gap on my profile page under Society shippings. I've got Leadershipping, Cuteshipping, B-shipping, and then I've got this space that needs filling!...we need a name for the fourth Society couple! Any suggestions!

Also thank you to Jess for the song lyrics...you'll be able to tell which ones when you read them.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

"Ben? Ben it's Stacey. Can you hear me?"

The seer pinched hard on Ben's thumbnail, but the agent did not stir. Rather his forehead seemed to wrinkle in worry.

"Anything from Drake?" Tash asked, lifting Ben's head and placing a cushion beneath him. Valerie, who was tending to the other unconscious person, had a hand on his forehead and her eyes closed, trying to determine his current state. Her worry was written all over her face, and she shook her head as she registered Tash's question.

"Try slapping him!" Harriet suggested, trying to get to her feet. She lost her balance and toppled backwards into her seat, dropping her plate of sandwiches to the floor. "Whoa...I am so drunk..."

"You can't get uuuuup!" Jess teased, parking herself on the leader's lap. Harriet pouted.

"Heeeey! Get off! I wanna slap the unconscious bodies!"

"They're not unconscious, they're sleeping," Valerie declared, taking everyone by surprise (including herself from the tone of her voice). "There's a lot of REM activity going on up there."

"So they're dreaming?" Tash summarised, and Claire gasped suddenly, causing everyone to jump.

"Or flashbacking!" she exclaimed. "We've been having them all night!"

Valerie was looking dark as she observed all the gathered agents, trying to determine if anyone was going to nod off where they stood. "I smell a rat," she declared. Harriet and Jess looked around curiously, leaning down to peer under the tables.

"Where?"

"Can I eat it?"

That response came from Tyler, who was promptly smacked around the head by Doug.

"It's a figure of speech," he informed the shorter agent.

"Uh, Lady Tash..." Cristoph's voice was tense, and everyone felt anxious. It took a lot to make Cristoph worried. "I do not wish to cause alarm, but does anyone know how long Lord Pete and Lady Charis have been sleeping?"

A cold chill seemed to sweep through the room, as everyone's gaze fell on the sleeping couple. Valerie got to her feet and crossed the room, but she froze before she could reach the sofa.

"They're not the only ones sleeping," she said, raising a finger and pointing across to a corner of the room. Ossa, Aimee and Jamie were slumped asleep against the bookshelves, Aimee's head in Ossa's lap, and Jamie's resting on her shoulder.

"God damn it," Tash muttered, yanking one of the blankets off the sofa, and over Ben. As the agent slept, the leader was positive she heard him give a soft, worried moan, and the name 'Bella' slip from his lips. She frowned.

"Definitely flashbacking," she muttered.

"Charis?" Karissa was shaking her sister gently, while Valerie worked on Pete. Both agents were sound asleep, and from the flickering beneath their eyelids, were dreaming deeply.

"What is this?" Marcus demanded, crouching down next to Ossa and her friends. "Some kind of flashback spell?"

"Combined with a sleeping spell," Tash guessed. "It took the sleeping spell longer to affect us than the flashback spell, which is why we've been flashbacking all night. There doesn't seem to be any pattern to the spell though. It's just picking people-"

She was cut off as Rhia's eyes rolled back into her head and she slumped against Cristoph, who caught her easily, and gently rested her on the nearest sofa.

"- randomly," Tash finished.

"So we're all going to fall asleep?" All the agents were looking worried, and Valerie could sense that some of them were about to panic. She got to her feet, and levelled everyone with a calm gaze.

"We're not going to fall asleep," she said firmly. "We're going to find a way to counter this spell. It doesn't seem to be spreading incredibly fast, and there's nothing to say that once the flashbacks are over they won't wake up again."

Deep down, Tash was having doubts about that. If a flashback spell had been cast without anyone realising it, it was unlikely to be a friendly cause. She nodded along with Valerie however, not wanting to alarm anyone.

"Valerie is right, and we won't figure this out by panicking," she turned to Aster. "Aster, track down Adrian, wherever he's gone. We will need him. Jess," she turned to the Moulin Rouge dancer, paused as she remembered how drunk she was, and turned to Michael and Claire. "Michael, Claire, all three of you go to check on the Sues in the basement. For some reason I'm seeing their finger prints all over this."

"You got it Aneki," Michael nodded, taking Claire's hand, and leading her out of the room. Jess followed, shouldering her purple handbag and trying to perform some kind of military march as she exited the room.

"Miri," Tash pointed to her little sister. "You and Cristoph go check the monitor room. See if there have been any active plotholes into the Library, or if there is any way anyone could have broken in here."

The two agents turned and headed for the door, just as Adrian, Emily and Aster reappeared, the former two looking white in the face, and the latter fluttering above their heads in first fae form.

"Found them Tasha-san!" Aster sounded pleased with herself, and Tash smiled.

"Aster, get out of the air," Valerie ordered, from where she was arranging for her team members to fetch more blankets and pillows from wherever it was that the Library kept them. "If you go to sleep I want you to do it close to the ground so you don't have as far to fall."

"Do as she says," Tash ordered, before turning to Adrian. "You're white, love. What's wrong?"

So worried was her boyfriend's face, that Tash failed to notice that Adrian had somehow located a trench coat, and thrown it over his kitty costume.

"The Fourth Wall has been sealed off," Adrian reported, gripping her shoulders and speaking in a low voice so that no one would hear. Valerie and Aster, who were close enough to hear however, did crowd around.

"What?!" Tash cried, before chewing hard on her lip as she realised that several people had looked up in fright. "Sorry...what?"

"There's some kind of spell blocking us from getting to it," Emily said, lowering her voice to a whisper so as not to alarm anyone. "I noticed that people were breaking it all night, and nothing was happening, so I went to check it out. It's not breaking because it's been sealed off from the Library."

Hearing the hushed whispers, Harriet tried to get up, but once again, failed miserably.

"Hey! I'm leader! I want in on the secret conversations!"

"Umm actually, I'm in charge," Tash corrected, pulling out a long, rolling piece of paper, with a gold header at the top declaring itself to be "The Anti-Cliche and Mary-Sue Elimination Society Rules, Regulations and other minute little crap that we may forget at one point or another and thus needs to be written down in case of emergency (R&R for short)".

"Rule three thousand and ninety six of the Society R and R – should Harriet and Lauren fall under the influence of excessive alcohol, sugar or cricket withdrawal, Tash is in charge."

"You made that rule up five minutes ago!" Harriet spluttered. Her housemate smirked.

"It still stands! I'm in charge!"

FLASHBACK

"_I'm going to check it out," Harriet stated, picking up her cricket bat and resting it over her shoulder. "Tash, you're in charge."_

_She stepped through the portal and vanished. Tash's jaw dropped and she morphed her necklace into her staff._

"_You are not going alone Harriet! I'm coming too! Michael you're in charge!"_

_Michael blinked slowly as his sister vanished after their leader. He glanced at the monitor, and gasped._

"_Gah! Harriet left her handbag!"_

_He seized Harriet's bright blue handbag, stuffed with paperwork, cricket magazines, a prohibitor and two copyrights, and raced for the portal._

"_Aster, you're in charge!" he bellowed over his shoulder, leaving a small, blinking fae alone in the room._

"_...Kyaa~"_

OOO

"...Did anyone else just see that?" Tash asked. Aster and Harriet raised their hands.

"Another flashback?" Valerie guessed, from the dazed expression on their faces.

"Another? What's going on?" Adrian asked, having only just noticed that the music had been switched off, and most of the Society agents were sitting on the floor, on cushions or on sofas. Tash chewed her lip.

"We have a problem..." She broke off to glare at Harriet, who had just let out a wide yawn.

"...what?" the leader blinked, as she noticed everyone scowling at her.

OOO

"Here's an agent, there's an agent, and a bloody lot of agents. Fuzzy agent, funny agent, agent, agent, Sue!"

"Jess?" Claire looked over her shoulder at the singing brit, who appeared not to have noticed that they had arrived at the basement, and that Michael was fumbling with the keys.

"Agent, agent, Hati, agent, Tashy, Willie, Aster, agent. Agent, agent, Michael, agent, agent, agent, Sue!"

"Jess!"

"That one's the Librarian, Tyler ate the cake. Shirley is a scary stick, Rhia knows how to bake. Emily paints naked pics, while Tyler eats the mail. Keep away, little child, for I'm about to fail."

"JESS!" Claire shouted, getting the older girl's attention. "I'll give you this cookie if you stop singing!"

She dangled a cookie that she had snatched from the plate upstairs in front of Jess's nose, and the girl thought for a second before nodding.

"I am a little hungry, so okay!"

Handing over the cookie with a sigh of relief, Claire returned to her boyfriend, who turned the key clockwise and pushed the heavy door open. Replacing the keys in his pocket, he took Claire's hand and led her down the stairs.

"Keep an eye on her," Michael advised, not trusting Jess's footing when she was this drunk. The last thing they needed was an accident at the bottom of the staircase. Claire nodded, and took Jess's hand gently. The still tipsy girl smiled in a seductive manner.

"I'm flattered Claire, but don't you have a boyfriend? Won't he mind?"

"Of course he'll mind Jess!" Claire sighed, turning to give the other girl a withering look. She made a funny strangled gasping noise. "And put it away! Jeeze!"

Michael swung his head around, but did not get the chance to see just what Jess was flashing (which was probably for the best) as with a swing of her hand, Jess pushed the heavy door closed behind her, and cut off most of the light on the staircase. Claire immediately felt cold, and she moved closer to Michael.

"Jess! What did you do that for?" Michael hissed, his eyes glowing a soft orange tone, and snake tentacles slithering from his back to bask in the darkness.

_Ah this is much better _the Darkness crooned in his head. _So fitting, don't you think?_

"_What do you mean_?" Michael snapped back. There was a sinister chuckle in the back of his mind.

_Well...its dark...and this is Halloween isn't it? The time of year when ghosts are said to run around and frighten you mortals into an early grave?_

"_Stop it!"_ Michael growled, taking a firmer grip on Claire's hand, and feeling for the next step.

_Not to mention you're heading for the cells where your most hated enemies are kept..._

"Shut up!" Michael screamed, stopping dead, causing Claire to walk straight into his back, and the Darkness to snigger.

_So easy to scare..._

"I'm sorry," Michael apologised to Claire. "The Darkness was BSing."

_But you know I'm right, young one._

"Beware of the things that lurk under your bed..." Jess giggled in a creepy manner, as they descended. All the lights were out, and it was impossible to see anything. "The creepy crawlies sneaking under your sheets..."

"Enough Jess!" Michael told her, and Jess took another bite of her cookie. "Where's the light switch? I've only ever been down here in the day with the door open."

"Its on that wall," Jess pointed.

"...I can't see where you're pointing Jess," Michael informed her dryly.

_Left, you fool_, the Darkness informed him in a grudging tone. Steering the snake tentacles directly ahead of him, to stop him walking into anything that could potentially break his nose, Michael released Claire's hand and stepped forwards toward the left wall.

He stopped as he trod on something soft, and a loud shriek filled the air. Claire and Jess screamed, and Michael stumbled back in horror.

"What the bloody hell was that?!" he yelled, still beating a hasty retreat. His back collided with something warm and moving and he screamed, along with Claire.

"Claire?"

"You walked into me!" his girlfriend was breathing heavily, and he felt her fingers brush across his chest. He took them gently.

"I'm sorry...bloody hell you frightened me!"

"Shhh!" Jess hissed suddenly, and all three of them fell silent, their frightened breathing echoing in the silent basement...

...except it wasn't silent. A rasping breath was coming from somewhere ahead of them, and the stench of fresh raw meat was growing stronger, along with a shuffling sound of something moving slowly closer...

"There's a zombie down here!" Jess squeaked, tugging at her frizzy hair in fright. Michael grabbed her arm and pulled her alongside Claire, painfully aware that this was just like every bad horror movie and good horror novel he had ever seen.

"Stay quiet!" he ordered, trying to stay calm. "It's probably just the Sues playing a trick..."

The explanation fell on deaf ears, as Claire let out another shriek.

"Something just brushed past my leg!" she said, clinging tightly to Michael. Her boyfriend froze suddenly as he felt the faintest draft around his ankles.

"There's something by my feet..." he whispered in horror.

_Okay, I'm sick of you acting like such a pansy!_ The Darkness snapped, and the snake tentacles shot out further from his back, one of them impacting with the light switch –

- at the moment something small and stick limbed, chomped down on Michael's ankle, just above his boot. The agent screamed and raced around the now fully lit room, trying to shake the assailant off. The pain in his leg was unbelievable.

"Leonard!" Jess shrieked, recognising the stick-limbed creature attached to Michael.

Sure enough, the deformed conjoined twin was hanging off Michael by his teeth, with the strangest contraption ever attached to his back. It looked like some kind of harness, attached to a pole which rose high above Leonard's head. Attached to the end of the pole, was a long piece of string with a bit of meat attached to the end, so that it dangled above Leonard's face. The intention presumably was to keep him occupied while Jess had been at the party – though it was anyone's guess how he had got down the stairs to the basement.

"Michael hold still!" Claire ordered, grabbing a chair beside the door, and taking careful aim. Michael managed to hold still long enough, biting back his pain, as Claire impacted the back of the chair onto Leonard, ripping his teeth from Michael's leg and sending him sprawling onto the ground.

"HOLY FUCKING HELL!" Michael screamed, sinking to the floor and clutching his leg, which was bleeding profusely. Jess ripped open her bag and dumped it on Leonard's head, scooping him up and zipping it tightly shut.

"Let me see. Let me see!" Claire insisted, prying her boyfriend's shaking hands away. Deep teeth marks were gouged in his skin, and blood was pouring free and soaking into the legs of his black trousers.

"Jess, that creature of yours is a fucking psycho!" Michael yelled. "And I know psychos!"

"I'm sorry!" Jess wailed, kneeling down and rummaging in the pharmacy pocket of her bag for bandages. "Here! Wrap it up with these!"

"Do you all mind?!" came the snooty voice of Mary-Ann Twilight, in the nearest cell.

"Yeah we're trying to sleep!" Harold snapped, throwing an empty mug at the bars of his cell, the clang waking several of the more heavy sleeping Sues from slumber.

"Some of us perfect beings need our beauty sleep you know," Silver flicked his 'perfect' hair in the direction of the agents.

"FUCK OFF!" Claire, Jess and Michael screamed in unison, with equal venom. And to everyone's surprise, Silver actually backed off, looking mildly afraid.

"We need to get him back to Valerie," Claire stated.

"Better do what we came here to do as well," Jess added, her fear and the shock of Leonard being down here sobering her fast. She got to her feet, and faced the wide awake Sues.

"Have any of you been having strange flashbacks at all this evening?"

Several of the listening Sues exchanged confused looks, and Harold and Silver smirked.

"Having problems upstairs are we?"

"None of your business," Claire snapped. "Now are you going to tell us?"

Another look was exchanged, and every prisoner in the basement burst into loud laughter. Michael growled, and tentacles of Darkness shot from his back, through the bars, and pinned Harold and Silver against the wall of their cell. Another two lifted him into the air since he had lost use of one of his legs.

"Jess..." he growled. "You do the honours."

Claire smirked and unlocked the cell, while Jess rummaged in her bag and produced her trusty, ferocious looking, body piercing needle. Silver and Harold went pale.

"You wouldn't dare!" Harold hissed, but his pupils shrunk horribly as he saw the demonic smirk on Jess's face, and he realise with a fit of terror, that she _would_ do it without hesitation.

"You'd all better watch closely," she smirked, drawing close to Silver, and brushing his hair away from his ear. "And you'd better stay still..."

"Nooo! My skin! My perfect flawless skin!" Silver wailed as the needle pressed gently against his earlobe. "We'll talk! We'll talk!"

Jess withdrew slightly, smiling widely. "Good...now tell us, have you been having any flashbacks at all this evening?"

"Not a one!" Silver shook his head. "None at all."

"Wimp!" Harold snapped, but he gulped as Jess advanced on him.

"I don't have to use this on your face y'know," she stated, her eyes flicking down to a certain area of the Stu's anatomy. From his position suspended by his tentacles, Michael winced.

"That's hitting below the belt Jess."

"Literally," Jess beamed, sadistically.

"How did Leonard get in?" Claire asked. "That door has been locked all evening."

Michael too was suspecting something amiss here, and was sure that even locked up, the Sues in the basement had something to do with the spell. Harold jerked his head in the direction of the air vent in the corner of the room, just big enough for Leonard to wriggle through, the grate of which was hanging wide open.

"Little bastard came in about an hour ago...frightened us all half to death. The only reason he didn't get into any of our cells was because of that thing attached to his back."

Somehow, inconceivable as it was, Jess was sure that they were telling the truth. Sighing in defeat, she dropped her arm back to her side, and turned on her heel.

"We're done here..." she muttered, shoving the needle back into her bag. Silver let out a smug chuckle.

"Knew she wouldn't do it."

Jess paused at the door to the cell, and turned slowly on her heel, a dark smirk spreading across her face.

"I'd pierce you right now if I wasn't feeling so..."

Her eyes glazed over before she could finish her sentence, and she swayed on her spot, before dropping like a stone onto the floor. Claire hurried to her side, but she knew as she rolled her over that Jess was deeply asleep.

"Damn," Michael muttered. "What do we do now?"

Dragging Jess from the cell, Claire hastily locked up behind her, and Michael let Harold and Silver drop to their feet. "We go back upstairs and let Valerie look at your leg. And we tell Tash what we've learned."

Michael tilted his head, as Claire bent down and hauled the unconscious Jess over her shoulder. "What _have _we learned?"

Claire gave Michael a grim look that did not match her usually cheerful personality.

"That for whatever reason, this spell is only targeting Society Agents, not Sues."

OOO

"Have you had any flashbacks tonight, Lady Miriku?" Cristoph enquired of the shorter agent. Miriku turned to look up at him.

"Oh yeah. I didn't think much of them though to be honest...you don't really think much of your memories when you're reminiscing, do you?"

Cristoph shrugged. "I would not know. I have very few memories of my past to call on."

Miri wondered briefly if this was what it would be like to talk to the Pharaoh in Yu-Gi-Oh – overly formal, and constantly having to remember not to bring up sensitive subjects, such as self induced amnesia...although whether Cristoph's apparent lack of past was self induced or not, no one knew.

"So what do you think this is?" she asked him, as they turned into the next corridor. "Flashback spells...sleeping spells. Not overly benign is it?"

"Not in the slightest," the ninja agreed. "I am sensing Sueishness all over these events. I can only hope that we have not been infiltrated."

Even as he spoke, the monitor room door was fast approaching, and Miriku picked up her pace. As she jogged toward the door however, Miriku stopped dead and slammed backwards into the floor with a cry of pain. Cristoph skidded to a halt and blinked slowly, before slipping a shuriken from his belt and throwing it down the corridor. Miriku, who was pulling herself upright, shrieked as she saw the spinning weapon flying towards her, and ducked down hastily as it clanged into a large, glass like bubble, blocking their way.

"Well...that's different," Cristoph frowned, as Miriku stood up slowly and placed one hand on the bubble. She winced a little as it was forced away.

"I don't think we're getting through that," she stated. "And you're right. I'm seeing Sueishness all over this..."

Both of them stood, and just stared at where they knew this invisible dome like barrier lay, blocking their progress, before Cristoph spoke again.

"I suggest we report back to Lady Tash."

"Seconded."

OOO

FLASHBACK

"_Harriet?"_

_The leader's head rose from where it had been balanced on her hands. Her elbows were pressed hard into the table, but she didn't care about the ache that had begun to build in her joints. She was still dealing with a small part of her heart that was aching at the enormity of what she had been forced to do today._

"_Why didn't you tell me?"_

_Harriet didn't need to look up at Tash to see that her face was shaken. Nor did she need to ask what she meant. But ask she did._

"_Tell you what?"_

_The co founder stepped over the threshold to the leader's office, and into the dark room, trying not to stumble over stacks of paperwork, discarded clothes, and abandoned copies of All Out Cricket._

"_Why did you never tell me that Willowe was your creation?"_

_Harriet still flinched at the word 'creation'. It was like calling the Sue her child._

"_Lauren and I never asked where she came from, or why you were chasing her so badly...we just listened to how much you hated her, and we felt it too in time."_

_Oh how Harriet wished Tash would just shut up. But her friend carried on._

"_All this time...these months we've been living together. Why couldn't you trust us with the truth?" Tash stood beside her desk, her eyes begging her friend to erase her confusion. "Did you think we'd hate you, or judge you? We would never have judged you..."_

_No, you wouldn't have, Harriet thought to herself. You're hiding your own secrets...you know why it must be done sometimes._

_She got slowly to her feet, not meeting Tash's eyes._

"_I know you wouldn't have judged me. None of you would have. You would all forgive me for my past mistakes, blame it on my age and my own stupidity. But even through all that, I couldn't forgive myself for any of the things Willowe has done."_

_Tash's eyes went wide. "You...you think...you blame yourself?"_

_Harriet nodded, her eyes downcast. "You said it yourself. Willowe is my creation...my child." She spat the word out. "Like a child I never wanted to have. I locked her away, destroyed all evidence of her and pretended she never existed. I'm the reason she turned out the way she is. She's my responsibility."_

_She paused before continuing. "I wonder every day when it all went wrong. When my innocent writing became so deadly. When I became capable of creating a monster." She gave a mirthless laugh. "We authors are cruel people. We have the power to give lives and take them away. We can start war in our books, send famine or plague, or murder a loved one with just a few words. We can torture our characters, and then abandon them in their unfinished stories and not think twice about it. I've done it. You've done it."_

_Her hands were shaking by now, and Tash had gone still. She had never heard Harriet sound this dark._

"_We have so much power that we're capable of becoming the things we hunt..."_

"_Stop it," Tash finally said firmly. "You can't think like this..."_

_Harriet carried on regardless. "Every time I think of Willowe, I'll think of the damage I've caused by bringing her into this world. It'll take a long time to put everything she and her sisters have done right."_

"_Then do it," Tash turned Harriet around to face her. "Forgive yourself and move on. You know you're sorry, and you've made up for it by catching Willowe and locking her away. All that's left to do is make it up to yourself. Help pick up the pieces and just accept that its all over."_

_Harriet looked sideways at her friend. "Is it over? Do you really think it is?"_

_Tash chewed her lip. "Yeah...I think it is."_

_The leader nodded slowly. "Okay...I can do it."_

"_You sure?"_

"_...I don't...I don't know..."_

"_Harriet?"_

"_I..."_

"Harriet!"

OOO

The leader's glazed eyes became clear again, and she snapped her attention to the worried looking healer.

"I'm sorry Valerie," she smiled. "I was having a flashback."

"...that's not a good thing," Valerie informed her, pushing a mug of tea into her hands. The healer was rushed off her feet. In the last ten minutes, Chrys had nodded off, with her head on Aster's shoulder, and Valerie had tripped over Karissa, who was still kneeling next to her sister, sound asleep, clutching her sister's hand.

"Anything?" Valerie asked as she approached Adrian. The Librarian was kneeling beside Tyler and Willie, who had fallen asleep not thirty seconds ago, spilling their mugs of coffee all over the floor. Tash had a handful of kitchen paper and was trying to mop up the mess, while her boyfriend muttered various spells, all of which had no effect what so ever.

"Nothing," Adrian shook his head. "Flashback spells are mostly used for recreational purposes, but this isn't your everyday spell. It's too strong to negated by a general stopping spell. Same with the sleeping spell."

"I'd say the sleeping spell is more dangerous right now," Valerie stated, lowering her voice. "What happens if we all fall asleep? There will be no one to wake us up...ever!"

"We'll negate it," the Librarian promised her firmly. "We just need to find the right spell to get rid of it...I'm sure there's a book on it somewhere in the Library."

Aster nervously glanced around the room. "Who's doing this...and why?"

"That's what we'd all like to know..." Valerie muttered, getting to her feet. Even as she spoke, she could see Doug's eyelids drooping, and Monika seemed to sway on the spot. Dashing over, Valerie was by her side, speaking in low worried tones, as her friend closed her eyes and relaxed into the healer's arms.

"Monika?" Valerie was holding back tears. "Wake up...please?"

Stacey's arms were wrapped around the healer's shoulders, as Danielle curled up beside them both. Five seconds later, the redhead was sleeping too.

"We have to stop this," Adrian said, turning to Aster, who was still hovering in the air, and Tash, who was crouched on the floor, paper towels frozen in mid air, her eyes glazed.

"Tash?" Adrian shook her shoulder, and the leader snapped out of it, her cheeks flushing a marvellous shade of red.

"Oh...sorry...that was weird..."

"Another one?" the Librarian asked, Tash nodded.

"But it was strange...most of my flashbacks tonight have been related to what we've been talking about at the time. This time, you guys were talking about this spell, and then I started remembering about..." the blush increased. "Well...the first time you and I..."

Adrian placed a hasty hand over her mouth. "I get the picture love."

"Lord Adrian!" Cristoph skidded to a halt, next to the Librarian, with a disgruntled looking Miriku racing into the room behind him ("I have _short _legs Cristoph!").

"Any active portals?" Adrian asked. Cristoph shook his head.

"We could not check. When we attempted to approach the monitor room, a barrier prevented us from entering.

Adrian's face paled. "Big and clear like glass? Tried to force you away when you touched it?"

"Yeah," Miriku nodded, rubbing the sore spot on the back of her head, as she panted for breath from the marathon dash between rooms. Adrian nodded.

"That's what blocked the Fourth Wall off from Emily and myself."

At this point, Michael and Claire staggered back into the room, Claire supporting the sleeping Jess. Adrian and Tash were horrified when they saw blood still oozing through the bandage around Michael's leg, and the agent limping heavily.

"What happened?!" Adrian demanded, hurrying to give Michael a shoulder to lean on.

"Leonard happened," Michael grumbled, easing onto a sofa. "And then Jess fell asleep, and as soon as we got into the corridor, the Darkness buggered off and we had to carry her."

"Never mind that," Tash stated, taking Jess from him, and dumping her unceremoniously on a sofa, her handbag on her lap. "We need to get Valerie to take a look at that leg."

"Had any of the Sues broken out?" Adrian asked, and he was unsurprised when Claire shook her head. He had not expected this to be the case – after all, the Library's alarms would have sounded.

"No, in fact," Claire paused, trying to organise her thoughts. "The flashback and sleeping spells don't seem to be affecting them at all. Whatever this spell is, its only cast on us."

Adrian froze, and you could almost see the pieces slotting into place in his brain. "You know...I don't think those barriers we've been finding were made to keep us out of places..."

"What do you mean?" Valerie asked, as she shuffled over to take a look at Michael's leg, wincing as she peeled the bandages away, and recognised the teeth marks – she was becoming a little too familiar with Leonard's attacks for her liking.

"I think they were designed to keep us in," Adrian finished grimly. "Whoever's cast this spell has done so from the outside, and they don't want us to escape it by getting out of the Library, so they've blocked off all our exits."

"But how could they cast a spell on the Library from outside it?" Tash demanded. "The Library is transdimensional space."

"I think we need to find out," Adrian stated. "And fast."

OOO

Emily raced for the second time through the Library, but this time she knew exactly where she was going. She only knew of one room in the Library with exactly what she needed in it, and she wished bitterly that it was not so far away.

She had been close enough to see the tears in Valerie's eyes as Danielle and Monika had fallen asleep, and she knew that she needed to do something. Agents were falling asleep one by one, and no one seemed close to finding a counter spell. And searching for one spell in a Library this size would be neigh on impossible before everyone finally succumbed to the sleep – herself included.

They needed a faster search. And she knew of someone that could do just that.

OOO

"When you say one of these rooms...?" Tash asked, in a dread filled voice. Adrian looked equally bleak.

"I mean one of these eight rooms in this corridor."

"And each room contains...?" Miriku was chewing hard on her lip.

"Over ten thousand books in each," the Librarian stated. "Some have fifteen thousand."

"And we have..."

"Sixteen confirmed sleeping agents," Marcus stated, one ear pressed to his communicator. Michael was on the other end, keeping the group updated on the condition of the rest of the Society. "Oh wait...make that seventeen. Terrie just fell asleep."

He hastily split himself in two to better aid the search, Emotion Marcus taking control of the phone.

"I still think I should have come too..." Michael stated on the other end of the line.

"ON YOUR LEG?! FORGET IT!" Emotion Marcus bellowed. "YOU STAY RIGHT THERE! WE'LL SORT THIS OUT!"

Adrian ran an anxious hand through his hair and turned to face the few gathered agents who had come with him.

"Okay men-"

"And women," Tash couldn't help herself, and she managed a sheepish grin when Adrian glared at her.

"We should split up and search. Keep the comms open. Anyone who finds anything let me know immediately." He pointed to the first room. "Tash, you take this one. Miriku you take door number two."

Both girls nodded, and split up into their respective rooms. Adrian turned to point to the two Marcus's.

"Thought Marcus, you take room three. Emotion Marcus, room four."

"O-okay..."

"YOU GOT IT!"

"And Aster, you take room five," Adrian finished. The fae nodded obediently and hurried off to the room. Adrian was puzzled as he noticed that Aster had not switched back to human form, and he wondered if she was hoping that she would have more defence against a sleeping spell as a fae.

For her sake, and all their sake, he hoped that they all stayed awake long enough.

OOO

"Oh nice try..." the Stu's voice was smug as he observed the events in the Library, through what appeared to be a hazy looking wall with a large crack down the centre. "But not good enough..."

"Can I do it?" the purple haired Sue was grinning widely, twirling a small silver key between her fingers. The white haired Stu nodded.

"Sure. It'll distract them long enough for the spell to take effect...and provide us with some entertainment while we wait."

The Sue let out an excited giggle as she hurried to a corner of the room, and dragged a large cage into the centre of the room. Placing it beside the wall, she unlocked the top, and picked up one of the small wriggling creatures from within, and tossed it casually through the crack in the wall.

"How many?" she asked. The Stu shrugged.

"Six will do," he stated. "One for each of those unlucky agents."

OOO

"Anything?" Adrian asked, frowning as he realised that his communicator was not built to accommodate kitty-hybrids. He shifted the speaker up to his ear, which twitched as the responses started coming through.

"Not a thing," Miriku stated. "Just a lot of books on how to stop magical plants, fungus and bacteria from spreading in your house...nearly all of them from different universes, I might add, and a handful of them not in English."

"Marcus...both of you," Adrian swiftly amended.

"N-nothing Adrian..."

"STILL LOOKING!"

"Aster?" Adrian enquired hopefully.

"Kyaa~...there's a book on a hundred and one ways to make a three dimensional illusion of any scene from a television show or film..." the fae replied, and everyone could almost hear the light bulb going off above her head. "Hey! I wonder if I could use this for anime..."

Adrian would have told Aster off, were it not for the loud crashing noise, and the scream of "Bollocks!" from room number one.

"Tash?" the Librarian was ready to run to the room, thinking for a wild minute that she might have fallen asleep. But then reason caught up with him – she would not have been able to swear at that volume if she had fallen asleep.

"Ow..." the chief agent's voice was pain filled. "I fell on my coins..."

"What happened Aneki?" Miriku demanded. From the long pause, it sounded as though Tash were trying to get her head together, as she staggered to her feet, the coins of her costume jingling in the background.

Then there was a long silence.

"Umm...guys," from the rapid jingling of her outfit, Tash was beating a hasty retreat away from something. "I tripped over a Potential Subplot."

That was the _last _thing Adrian expected to hear, and Miriku gasped in fear, while Thought Marcus gulped, and Emotion Marcus began swearing in a loud voice.

"Everyone quiet!" Adrian snapped, silencing the noisy agent half. "Tash what's it doing?"

"It's just...staring at me."

"Get out of there," Adrian said instantly. "As fast as you can."

"I can't! It's between me and the door..."

"Adrian!" Miriku squeaked suddenly. "There's one in my room too!"

Adrian's back straightened and the hairs on his neck prickled, as he felt a set of eyes on him, and he knew as he turned around, just what he would find.

It looked for all the world like a small Plot Bunny. But unlike regular Plot Bunnies, who's bodies were black and comprised of strings of compressed words rather than flesh and blood, _these _bunnies were brightly coloured, and Adrian could tell just what kind of subplot they were supposed to induce by their markings and colour.

His body went numb.

"Adrian, what do purple Subplots with white circles do?" Tash asked fearfully. The Librarian did not want to answer, but his lips moved anyway.

"Brainwashing subplots."

Tash let out a curse word that while very nasty, was wholly appropriate given the circumstances.

"Run!" Adrian shouted, snatching the pendant from around his neck, and yelling the chant as the bunny jumped off the back of the sofa and leaped straight for his throat.

OOO

"Adrian? Adrian? Tash? Anyone?!" Valerie was doing something she rarely did – lose her patience. The search team were not responding to their comms any longer, which either meant that they had found the spell and were trying to put it into practise, they were all distracted, or worse, they had all fallen asleep.

Unfortunately, Valerie was betting the latter. Almost all the agents around her were now sleeping, covered by blankets, shawls and throws, resting on the sofas, armchairs or otherwise leaning on large cushions. Some were snoring gently away, and overs were cuddling each other in their sleep.

"We should check on them," Stacey suggested. "If they've fallen asleep we'll need to continue the search."

"We can't just leave the other agents!" Valerie insisted, waving a hand at the dozing masses in the room, the steady drone of snoring agreeing with this statement. Most of the agents were frowning or whimpering in their sleep, and Valerie could sense that the flashbacks were causing most of them incredible distress.

"Valerie, they're sleeping," Michael pointed out, already getting to his feet and forcing growling as the tentacles of Darkness dissolved to whispers of shadow in the light of the room. Claire hastily got to her feet and offered her shoulder to him, and he smiled gratefully to her.

"And you're injured," Valerie reminded him, nodding to his properly bandaged leg. "You can't carry them back if they've fallen asleep, and Claire can't either while she's supporting you."

"Once we get to the darker corridors I should be able to use the Darkness to support me," Michael argued. "We can't just leave them all!"

"And we can't leave these people either," Valerie retorted. "We don't know what might happen to them while they're sleeping. They need supervision!"

"Guys," Claire interrupted suddenly, pointing to a nearby cushion. "Cristoph is sleeping."

Sure enough, the ninja was sprawled on the floor, completely unconscious. Valerie sighed, and went to check him. Already she could sense the horror that the flashback was putting him through and it brought a lump to her throat. She couldn't leave, not when so many of the agents seemed to be recounting horrific moments of their lives...

_You should go, Valerie._

Valerie blinked as the voice of Ari sounded in her head, and the small fire lizard appeared out of _between_, settling on the back of one of the sofas, and surveying her with sharp blue eyes.

_I know you want to stay and help these people. _Her guardian spirit stated. _But you would do better to help the others find the means to end this spell...after all, there are not many people left awake with magical ability. _She nodded her triangular head at the healer. _Go. I shall watch the sleeping agents._

Valerie would have hugged her muse, but she was conscious that time was not on their side, and so she hastily got to her feet, projecting her thanks toward the fire lizard, as she turned toward the others, just in time to see Stacey yawn widely. Her determination seemed to shrink as she watched her friend blink.

"I feel tired..." Stacey managed out, before slumping forwards onto a footstool, her camera falling out of her limp hand and onto the floor with a clatter. Valerie chewed hard on her lip.

"Stacey..."

_Go. _Ari urged, swooping low toward the latest sleeper. _I will watch them._

Steeling herself towards the door, Valerie tried not to look at her sleeping friends, less their faces draw her into staying, and focused instead on Michael and Claire. "Let's go...before its too late."

OOO


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer**: I do not own YuGiOh the Abridged Series. I'm sure I've had to disclaim this fandom before.

**A/N**: Its finally done! Sorry it took so long, but its a big chapter to make up for it. Yeah you can tell my inspiration died half way through. I love parts of this chapter, and I hate parts of this chapter. Its a bit choppy, for which I apologise.

Would like to point out, that when I started this, I was not aware that another author had been given permission to use this Sue. As the aforementioned author has now posted her fic, this takes place prior to that one (this statement will make sense when you read on and find out who the Sue actually is).

Anyone who goes on the RP thread, will remember Emily's choice of weapon in this chapter. I thought it was about time she used it again.

Thanks to MichaelDJ54 and Master of the Library for betaing, giving me ideas and generally being awesome.

* * *

**Chapter 5**

"Thought Marcus!" Adrian skidded into the corridor in time to see the more nerdish version of Marcus racing out of room three, a rabid looking Potential Subplot after him.

Adrian swung Hoshikuzu at it, but the bunny leaped sideways, bouncing off the bookshelf that lined the corridor. The problem, Adrian realised immediately, was that they were so small and desperate to infect so many potential authors in the vicinity, that dodging was second nature to them. The Librarian now understood why fangirl mallets and bottles of disinfectant were often the only course of action when these showed up in fanfictions.

"H-help m-m-me!" Thought Marcus screamed, pulling books off the shelves lining the corridor, in the hope of squashing the bunny. It did not work – the Potential Subplot just leaped clean over them.

As the bunny launched itself at Marcus, teeth bared, a book came flying out of room two, and squashed the bunny comically against the opposite wall. It peeled away and splattered to the floor like a pancake of the most horrible variety.

Thought Marcus sank against the wall in exhaustion. "T-thanks M-miri!"

The red head adjusted her pharaoh collar and grinned, her staff resting in her free hand. "No problem! Where are the others?"

Adrian barged his way through the mess that Thought Marcus had made, conscious of the bangs and crashes sounding from the other rooms, along with the sound of rushing water, and loud, emotion filled cries of "DIE! DIE! DIE YOU FURRY BASTARD!"

As the Librarian stepped past Thought Marcus, Miriku suddenly screamed, and something purple and furry bounced out of her room, and burrowed its way through her frizzy red mane.

"It's in my hair!" Miri shrieked, jumping in circles and waving her arms and staff dangerously. "Get it out! Get it out!"

Thought Marcus backed away into the shelf in fright, as Adrian levelled his sword, preparing to slice the bunny in two, as soon as he got a clear shot. As he pushed through the books however, there was a sickening squelch of teeth sinking into flesh, and Miriku went completely still, her arms falling limp by her side, and her head resting on her chest. The subplot reappeared, spitting out a portion of Miriku's hair on to the floor.

Adrian swung for the bunny, but even as he moved he knew it was too late. Miriku's staff came up to block the swing, her head rising from her chest to reveal swirling purple eyes, and a blank smile.

"Time for us to play."

Her voice was a monotone, and her attacks were ferocious. Adrian parried every blow, but he was afraid to strike back in case he hurt Miri – she was brainwashed, and didn't know what she was doing.

As she pushed the Librarian back down the corridor, and towards rooms seven and eight, a blast of freezing cold air appeared from room five, and Aster marched into the corridor, still in fae form, her staff in one hand, and a block of ice frozen to the end, with the Potential Subplot frozen inside. Seeing Thought Marcus getting slowly to his feet, she smiled and pointed the ice block towards him.

"Bunny on a stick, Marcus-kun?"

Thought Marcus was saved from answering however, as down the corridor, Adrian gave a yell of "Librarian Art 9 – Pillars of Knowledge!" and six giant pillars erupted through the floor of the corridor and trapped Miriku between them.

Aster blinked at this display. "Kyaa~ Why is Adrian-kun attacking Miriku-chan?"

"M-miriku w-was b-b-bitten b-by a P-p-potential S-subplot," Thought Marcus stuttered. "I-it b-b-brainwashed h-her."

Aster's eyes went wide, and she made to charge in to help Adrian, however the door to her right exploded outwards, and Emotion Marcus stood tall, his eyes a swirling shade of purple, and the Potential Subplot still attached by the teeth to his arm.

Thought Marcus gulped, as his other half turned his gaze on him.

"O-oh n-n-no!"

And with a scream of fear, he was off, with Emotion Marcus in hot pursuit. Aster blinked again.

"…that was weird," she declared, giving a yelp as door one was blown off its hinges by a gust of fire, which warped and shrunk back into Tash's staff as she marched into the corridor.

Aster frowned as she realised that the leader's eyes were purple, and her look was malicious. "Kyaa~…this isn't my day," the fae declared, as Tash gave a battle cry and charged at her, flames erupting out behind her.

OOO

"Got it!"

It was the best thing Emily had heard all day. The ten year old slipped the last of the bottles into her bag, and slung it over her shoulder, picking up a supersoaker in her other hand, and hurried over to Phoenixia, who was sitting next to the hanger computer, with her eyes closed, mentally scanning through the Library's online archives and cataloguing system.

"Adrian will know which section it is," the hologram assured her. "So all you need to tell him is the room number, the shelf number, the section code, and the name of the book."

"Okay…" Emily had a pen out, and prepared to scrawl the numbers on the back of her hand. "Go for it."

"Room seven," Phoenixia listed. "Shelf thirty five. Section six, the books name is "Dream and flashback: spells for your memory". According to my chapter listings, he wants somewhere in chapter four."

Emily finished jotting down the book name, along with the string of numbers, and shoved her pen into the pocket of her shorts. "Thanks Phoenixia. I'm going to find them. I'll call Adrian as I go."

"Good luck!" the hologram called, as the former Sue shouldered her weapon and raced from the room. Anxiously, she flicked the computer monitor back to the main reading room, where all the other agents were sprawled out asleep, and then to the corridor where Michael, Claire and Valerie were making their way slowly towards another section of the Library.

"This looks bad," she muttered, scanning the status of the agents stumbling towards the correct rooms. She could tell that two of them were fine, but one of them was about to fall asleep – her body was slowing down.

"Come on Emily…run faster."

OOO

"Juari-Ken – Gihardi!"

Tash's staff slammed through Aster's guard, and landed powerfully into her chest. The fae felt pain spread through her ribs and her eyes watered as she skidded backwards into the wall. The books that had littered the floor earlier were now smoking, or smouldering, and several of the bookshelves were ablaze. The corridor was getting hotter, and Aster was running out of water in the air to use her powers with.

"Juari-Ken – Rinwi!" Her staff came down on the floor, and Tash pole vaulted toward Aster, raising her staff above her head ready to strike.

A pillar of ice shot up and crushed the Society leader against the ceiling. The grip on her staff was lost, and it clattered to the ground. Aster seized it quickly and surveyed her handiwork.

"Kyaa~...that should hold you for a little while."

"H-h-help!"

Thought Marcus raced past Aster, having apparently done a lap of this area of the Library, screaming his head off all the while. Emotion Marcus was right behind him. Lacking the umbrella – which Marcus had left in his room for the party at Harriet's request, for safety reasons – the louder half of the agent had a pile of books under his arm, and was apparently throwing them at the fleeing Thought Marcus, trying to knock him out. As Thought Marcus raced around a corner, another book was hurled with such force that it left a dent in the wall, and Emotion Marcus hurried after him, already raising another projectile in his right hand.

Aster blinked, and leaned against her ice pillar, which she could already feel melting from the nearby fires. She tried to draw more water out of the air to put the fires out, but there was so little to work with that she only managed a few dice sized drops. Giving up, she opted instead to draw all the oxygen away from the flames, instantly snuffing them out. The air smelt strongly of smoke, which hung like a thick cloud in the corridor.

"Aster?"

The fae turned to see Valerie, Michael and Claire appear from another corridor, all of them horrified at the damage done by the fighting.

"...Adrian's going to kill you," Claire stated, her eyes slowly following the ice sculpture up, and up, until she reached the top with a loud splutter. "Is that _Tash_ up there?!"

Aster nodded. "Hai...a purple bunny bit her and she went crazy. Marcus-kun and Miriku-chan too."

"Miri?!" Michael was already barging past her toward the next corridor, where the sounds of crashing bookshelves, clangs of staff on sword, and a cry that sounded horribly like "BOOT TO THE HEAD!" were audible.

_To you left, boy! _the Darkness cried, a snake tentacle shooting out and seizing the attacking Potential Subplot in midair. There was the disgusting sound of fangs squeezing into the bunny's body, before it was tossed limply to the side of the corridor.

_No one bites my host but me! _the Darkness snarled, and then as an afterthought. _And your lover too I suppose..._

Michael blushed, and was infinitely thankful that no one else could hear that.

OOO

Adrian, Hoshikuzu in its staff form for less damage, surveyed Miriku, who was currently being pinned under crushed stone pillars and multiple copies of various encyclopaedias. He could smell burning from the next corridor and knew that Tash must have been fighting too – whether she had been attacking or defending he couldn't tell.

There was a thundering of footsteps, and Thought Marcus shot right past him, without stopping to say anything but a terrified "HELP!" He was followed closely by Emotion Marcus, who's purple eyes had an enraged look in them. The louder of the two had run out of books to throw, and seemed to be resorting to try and strangle Thought Marcus with his bare hands – if he could catch him that was.

_Wow…that's the only time I've ever heard Thought Marcus scream as loud as his counterpart, _Adrian thought to himself. To his surprise, Thought Marcus seemed to slow suddenly, and with a great yawn, he flopped bonelessly to the floor, completely asleep. Emotion Marcus screeched to a halt, but he was running too fast and tripped spectacularly over his sleeping other half, arms flailing wildly, and landed on top of him with a dull 'oof!'.

Adrian approached cautiously when neither of them moved, and prodded Emotion Marcus gently with his foot. He got a loud snore in response, and the Librarian breathed a sigh of relief.

"MIRI!"

Adrian mentally groaned as he realised what Michael must be seeing as the agents all rounded the corridor. He had Miri buried in fallen rubble and books, and both halves of Marcus comatose on the floor. Michael's whole body was trembling with rage, and Valerie was supporting Claire, who was struggling not to fall asleep on the healer's shoulder.

Aster screamed, "His eyes! He's been bitten!"

A dramatic blast of wind buffeted the Librarian, who braced himself against the hurricane that had materialised in the corridor. Above the noise he could hear Valerie screaming.

"ASTER! His eyes are _always _purple!"

The storm like winds abruptly ceased, and Aster looked sheepish. "Oops…sorry Adrian-kun…"

The windswept Librarian had not time to reply. Two tentacles of Darkness pinned him by his throat against the wall, a third wrenching Hoshikuzu from his grasp. Adrian choked, as he saw Michael advance, a murderous gleam in his orange tinted eyes.

"M-Michael…" Adrian tried to splutter. "I-I…"

"You. Hurt. MIRI!" Michael bellowed, more Darkness bursting from his back. A sleepy looking Claire hugged him from behind and pulled him back.

"Michael…Miriku's eyes are purple. She was bitten."

His own eyes clearing, Michael released Adrian, who leaned heavily against the wall coughing hard, as air rushed into his grateful lungs.

"You didn't have to knock her out," Michael growled. Feeling safer with his sword in his hand, Adrian bent to pick up Hoshikuzu before he answered.

"She got bitten…she attacked me and Thought Marcus…"

"Emotion Marcus is the same," Valerie reported, fishing around in her first aid bag. "Aster said bunnies. Potential Subplots, am I right?"

Adrian nodded, "Brainwashing…"

Valerie flipped open a roll of material, which contained vials of different coloured medicine, and began selecting one. Michael still looked angry, but muttered an apology, that Adrian would have missed had he not been watching his lips move. The awkwardness was broken as Claire's eyes fluttered closed and she rested completely on Michael.

"Baby?" Michael's voice took a frantic edge. "Baby, wake up…"

"Kyaa~…Michael-kun. She's not going to." Aster said gently, as Michael cuddled his girlfriend against his chest. "We need to find that spell." It was rare to hear the fae sound so serious. Adrian nodded in agreement, and glanced around.

"Valerie, you get that antidote administered."

The healer was already on it, filling the first syringe with one of the bright yellow medicines.

"Aster, what happened to Tash?" the Librarian asked. Aster blinked slowly.

"She's on top of one of my ice pillars…I hope she's not cold…"

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Adrian pointed back to the other corridor. "Go keep an eye on her. Valerie will come round with the antidote when she's ready. Michael?"

Michael did not look up from Claire, but he nodded to show he was listening.

"I'll search," he agreed, before the Librarian could ask. He rested Claire gently against the wall, and turned to Valerie. "Take care of her."

The healer nodded, tapping the syringe, and depressing it to get the air bubbles out. "You know I will."

As she took Miriku's arm, there was a loud squeak, and Aster came running back into the corridor, as a low growling noise appeared from behind her. All the agents looked up and paled.

The Potential Subplots had been taking advantage of their distraction, and begun breeding. Ten of them now blocked the corridor exit.

"How fast do these things breed?!" Michael demanded in horror. He knew instantly that there was no way they would be able to defeat them all. There were too many of them and they were all too damn fast.

"Like rabbits," Adrian muttered, raising his sword, as the mass of bunnies charged, teeth bared and ready for blood and chaos.

"TAKE THIS!"

The bunnies all seemed to pause mid leap, and turn their heads behind them just in time to get a face full of clear, strong smelling liquid. There was a hiss and the stench of burning fur, and the bunnies tumbled to the ground, rolling about the floor in agony as their flesh began to burn. The corridor was filled with deafening screeches of pain, before they all evaporated into atoms.

At the end of the corridor, stood Emily.

The former Mary-Sue was clutching her supersoaker, and had a bag across her shoulder, open and baring several bottles labelled "Fangirl Strength Disinfectant". As soon as the last bunny vanished, she pulled one out and began reloading her weapon.

"…do you want to swap?" Michael asked, offering Emily his sword.

"Thanks Emily," Adrian lowered his own sword. "But it's too dangerous here…"

Emily rolled her eyes. "I don't care if it's dangerous here. I came to help."

She marched to Adrian and raised her hand, displaying the numbers she had scrawled on the back of it. The Librarian's eyes went wide as he realised what they were.

"How?!" was all he could splutter. Emily smirked.

"Phoenixia. I had her run a search."

She was swept into a suffocating hug by a relieved Adrian.

"You're a genius!" he declared, before racing off back towards the rooms.

"Kyaa~…I think the kitty costume is going to his head…" Aster declared, hurrying off to check on Tash, as Adrian had ordered. Everyone left jumped as Miriku gave a loud groan, and she opened her eyes, which had gone back to their usual colour.

"Owie…" the girl protested as she tried to move. "What fell on me?"

"Bunnies!" Emily shouted, raising her supersoaker, and drenching five Potential Subplots that had rounded the corner of the corridor. Unfortunately she also drenched Aster, who was once again beating a hasty retreat back round the corner.

"Emily-chan!" the fae yelled, wiping the liquid from her costume. Though she had quickly changed the molecules upon contact with her skin so that it did not harm her, she did not appreciate being soaked.

"You jumped in my way!" Emily screamed in her defence.

"Do I look like a bunny?!"

"…do you really want an answer to that, Aster?" Michael questioned, propping Miriku up against the wall, two snake tentacles catching a Potential Subplot in mid air and ripping it into two pieces.

Emily watched the last of the bunnies evaporate on the spot, and wiped her forehead. "That's all of them…question is, where did they come from?"

Aster looked thoughtful, and hurried around the corner of the corridor before she could be stopped again. She returned not half a minute later, with the Subplot that had attacked her earlier, still frozen in a block of ice.

"Here," she said, passing him to Michael, stepping carefully over Valerie, who was administering the antidote to Emotion Marcus. "Hold this. I'm going to check on Tash-san."

Michael held it at arms length as though he expected it to jump out of the ice and bite him at any moment. "What am I supposed to do with this?!"

_I could rip it apart,_ The Darkness suggested. _I've always wanted to try frozen vermin..._

"_I hate you sometimes..." _Michael thought.

"Valerie-san!" Aster called from the next corridor. "Tell Adrian-kun that Tash-san is sleeping!"

The healer chewed her lip, as she slipped the used needle into a pot in her bag, and prepared another antidote. "Its just down to us..."

"No need to tell me," the Librarian stated, stepping back into the corridor, chewing his lip in worry. "I heard."

"Did you find the counter spell?" Valerie demanded, and her heart sank as Adrian shook his head.

"There's no spell...there's only one way to stop it..."

He approached Emily, and the ten year old could tell from the look on his face that she was not going to like what he was about to ask of her.

"You guys all get to my office. You'll be safe there –" He raised his voice. "You too Aster! Take Tash!"

"Kyaa~"

"Emily," Adrian continued. "I need your lab key."

The former Sue fixed the Librarian with a cautious look, her forehead creasing into a frown, as she dangled the key on the end of her finger. "What do you need it for? You've got the master key..."

"Not to the room I need," Adrian explained, snatching the keys from her hand, and turning back to the closed door. A click of his own keyring later, and the door opened to the dark tech lab staircase.

"I know how to wake everyone. Just get yourselves to my office and keep those Subplots back."

"Adrian!" Emily shrieked after the Librarian's shrinking form. "Why do you need my key? What room can't you get into?!"

A squeak sounded from behind her and she blasted an approaching bunny in the face, as realisation crashed over her like a splash of icy cold water. The bunny disintegrated as she raced toward the staircase.

"_Adrian_! Don't you _dare_ touch the dues ex machina!"

OOO

"Okay, Tash-san, down you come," Aster grinned widely, gripping her staff and shifting the water molecules so that they unfroze. Like a geyser that had been reversed, the water collapsed to the floor, drenching Aster further, and sending Tash crashing painfully to the floor with a loud jingle of her outfit.

"ASTER!"

Aster turned to see she had accidently soaked Michael and Valerie, who were struggling to carry everyone. Claire was resting on Michael, while Valerie carried Miri. Marcus had been merged back to one person, and was being carried by two tentacles of Darkness.

Aster sweatdropped. "Gomenasai..." She bent to pick up Tash, and winced. "Ouch...she fell on her coins again!"

OOO

"You should go back and help the others."

"Adrian I'm telling you! Don't use that thing! You know what happened last time!"

"I take orders from no one Emily! This is the only way!"

"But it's dangerous! – DON'T!"

And for the briefest fraction of a second, the Library went white.

OOO

The only sound in the main reading room, was the gentle snoring of the sleeping agents, and the occasional splatter of slowly solidifying chocolate running down the side of the abandoned chocolate fountain. Occasionally one of the sleeping bodies would twitch.

Then Rhia twitched so much that she fell off the sofa, and landed heavily on the floor.

Or at least, it should have been the floor...

"Ow!"

Rhia's eyes snapped open and she found herself face to face with Cristoph – she had landed directly on top of him. The ninja was blinking slowly at her, and as she watched, colour seemed to seep into his cheeks.

"_Is he blushing?" _Rhia wondered, internally giving a small giggle that was often reserved for Merlin characters. "_Aww...he's actually kinda cute when he's embarrassed."_

"Not that I mind, Lady Rhia," Cristoph began. "But would you care to remove yourself from me?"

And with a flood of embarrassment, Rhia felt her own cheeks flame as she realised just how they were positioned. She scrambled off hastily, shyness overcoming her.

"I'm so sorry!" she squeaked, scurrying back onto the sofa, and cuddling a pillow tightly as though it would cover her embarrassment. Cristoph looked around the room with a smile.

"It appears the spell is broken..." he commented, as other agents began to stir. Some were yawning widely, and others were just looking confused.

Then an alarm began to sound, and Tash's voice appeared through the Library.

"All agents, arm yourselves and assemble at Adrian's office. Quickly as possible."

OOO

"...so what exactly did you _do_?" Michael asked, folding his arms and giving the Librarian a stern look. Adrian sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"The book said no spell existed and to use some other deus ex machina to stop it..."

"...so you thought that quite literally using the Deus Ex Machina to fix it would be a good idea?" Emily demanded furiously.

"Well it worked, didn't it?!" Adrian spluttered. "Everyone woke up, and we aren't sealed in anymore..."

The Librarian was not used to having to explain his intentions – it was so much easier when he saved the people, they were just grateful, and didn't care how he did it...

"What repercussion was there?" Valerie asked, knowing full well that something must have happened.

Tash, who had been given an antidote in record time by the healer before she could wake up, was sitting next to the computer, poking the screen. She had suggested holding this meeting in the monitor room, but it was too small to hold all the agents present. Indeed. Adrian's office seemed to have magically doubled in capacity in order to fit everyone comfortably.

"Well...thankful as I am that someone saved our a-rears," Tash amended her language for Emily's sake. "I'm afraid that Adrian and the Deus Ex Machina just gave 4Kids the right to dub the new YuGiOh movie..."

Every YuGiOh fan present groaned loudly. Adrian rolled his eyes.

"Oh come on! They probably would have got the rights anyway..."

Aster, who was not a YuGiOh fan at all, and was examining the ends of her hair for fire damage, asked. "So...who cast the spell?"

"And how did they infiltrate my Library?" Adrian grumbled. Michael, who was still carrying the slowly melting block of ice, waved it at everyone.

"Easy way to find out," he declared, and everyone turned to look at him curiously. "Someone sent their little pets in here...let's send them back to master."

He poked Jess in the side, and the now sober agent nodded, and pressed her fingers to the tattoo on her back. A small blast of fire later, and the Potential Subplot was released, shivering and shaking water off its fur. It was immediately seized by a snake tentacle, and began to scream and shriek at the top of its lungs. Michael clapped its mouth shut with another tentacle.

_That went straight through my ears..._ the Darkness winced.

"_You don't HAVE any ears," _Michael reminded it.

_...oh shut up boy..._

"_Heh, Michael three hundred and fifteen, Darkness two hundred and three..."_

_I said shut up!_

"Alright bunny," Michael started, waving another tentacle threateningly above the Subplot's head. "You're going to show us how you got into this Library. And if you mess around...well, the Darkness is hungry..."

The bunny looked petrified, as Michael released it, and it immediately scampered as fast as it could between the legs of the agents, who backed away just in case it decided to turn around and bite one of them. Michael followed closely, snake poised a mere ten inches behind the Subplot at all times.

With a squeak, the bunny leaped straight for the handleless door that Emily had gone through earlier, and vanished from sight. Michael was right behind it, touching the door and disappearing from sight.

"I'll bet its heading for the Fourth Wall!" Emily gasped, and the Library gave a hideous shudder as soon as the words were out of her mouth.

"That's the Fourth Wall?" Drake asked in disbelief, causing another miniature quake.

"Stop talking about it!" Adrian demanded, tersely.

"Follow that bunny!" Harriet yelled, jabbing her cricket bat in the direction of the door and sending the agents surging for the door like a fast sweeping tide. There were a few cries of pain as people trod on each other's feet, and several agents' costumes were poked places they really shouldn't go.

"Don't touch anything else in there!" Tash advised.

"And don't go down any of the side bits!" Emily added with a shudder.

"Hey!" Adrian yelled, as everyone began vanishing from the room. "You can't go in there!"

No one paid any attention to him, and the Librarian growled.

"No one takes me seriously in this costume!"

OOO

"_That _wasn't there before!" Emily declared, pointing at the anomaly, though there was really no need – it was so big that you would have to be blind to miss it. "At least...I don't think it was that big before..."

In the centre of the Fourth Wall was a massive, gaping crack, big enough for most people to fit through. It looked as though someone had taken a chainsaw and gouged the material out of the wall, leaving a gaping wound behind.

The Potential Subplot took advantage of everyone's awe and wonder to leap back through the crack and to safety.

"I'm thinking bad guys on the other side of the wall?" Michael suggested, and there were several nods of agreement.

"Wait just a minute!" Adrian pushed his way to the front of the crowd, determined to regain some of his presence. "We can't all go barging in there. Someone needs to stay here in case anything happens."

It was clear from the expressions on the agent's faces that no one wanted to miss out on the opportunity to harm whoever it was who had ruined their party.

"I'll stay," Emily stated finally. "I've had enough excitement and running for one day."

"I meant someone over five feet," Adrian replied, and Emily stuck her tongue out at him.

"Oh, that rules me out then," Tyler said gleefully.

"I can stay behind," Miriku volunteered, and no one wanted to argue with her. Emily handed Harriet her supersoaker and bag of disinfectant, before running over to Miriku and hugging her tightly around the waist. Adrian just looked relieved that someone had listened to him in this outfit.

"When we get back," he muttered to his girlfriend. "I'm burning this costume and punishing you."

Tash gave a wide grin. "You shouldn't tempt me at a time like this, love."

"Ladies first," Cristoph invited, waving a hand toward the crack. Claire, armblades and pinecones at the ready, rolled her eyes.

"Men only say that because they're scaredy cats," she declared, before linking arms with Tash and Jess and stepping through the wall.

OOO

The other side of the Fourth Wall was the interior of a tower.

The walls were cold metal, lined by humming lights all the way to the top. The ceiling was so far above their heads that none of the Society agents could see that high. Stationed at four corners, were four small chariot-like platforms, which seemed designed to rise to the top of the tower.

In the corner of the room was a cage, filled with Potential Subplots, leaping around, mating, and some trying to gnaw their way out of the cage. Most of them were brainwashing Subplots, like the one from the Library that was currently trying to wriggle back into the cage, but there were a handful that were red with various patterns, and a couple that were pink.

"Hang on..." Michael said, craning his head and trying to see the top of the tower. "This is Alcatraz Tower...we're in the YuGiOh fandom!"

"No we're not..." Tash shook her head, tapping away at her Plot Summary. "This is the YuGiOh _Abridged Series_ fandom...there's a large streak of crack running through this world."

"That explains the Subplots!" Harriet nodded, aiming her borrowed supersoaker at the cage. "The Abridged Series is right in the middle of season two, and Marik is running around brainwashing people."

"Making it the perfect breeding place for brainwashing Subplots to sic on you idiots!"

The Society rounded on the door to the tower, and everyone's jaws dropped simultaneously in an almost comical manner. Several people gasped in disbelief, and Harriet dropped the supersoaker.

It was Marcus who spoke first.

"Chi? Xavier?!"

"Surprise!" Chi snickered, giving a wave. Xavier tossed a strand of white hair over his shoulder and folded his arms smugly.

"Well it seems you all survived our spell," the Stu observed. "What a waste of time..."

"How did you even cast that spell over the Library?" Adrian pushed forward, his arms folded, his kitten ears twitching. Chi and Xavier's eyes moved from top to bottom and then back up again, before they both burst into harsh laughter.

"Kitty costume Librarian?" Xavier snickered. "Very badass."

Chi appeared too overcome with giggles to add any kind of intelligent comment, and Adrian blushed brightly. By his side, Tash couldn't help but grin widely.

"In answer to your question," Xavier explained, completely unfazed by the fact that every agent was levelling their weapons at them and they were outnumbered two to forty. "The same way you just came in – through the fourth wall...this fandom breaks it so much that it was easy to cast a spell through it."

"And the Library couldn't alert you or throw us out," Chi added grinning. "Because we were never inside it in the first place!"

Adrian's whole body was twitching by this point, as he realised that the Library would never register recreational spells such as flashback spells or sleeping spells as deadly, because usually they were never used that way. He would have to step up security once they got back.

"Well your spells failed," Harriet declared boldly, stepping forward, levelling the supersoaker in one hand and her cricket bat in the other. "And we're all awake and kicking...so are you both going to come quietly and save yourself a beating?"

Both Sue and Stu snorted with laughter again.

"Oh please! We Sues always have more than one plan!" Chi stated, pulling out a small (very cliché looking) black box with a giant red button on the top. "And YuGiOh Abridged may only be reaching the end of season two, but you all remember what happens to this tower at the end of season three...right?"

The gaze of every YuGiOh fan in the vicinity seemed to travel to the top of the tower and back down to the bottom again, where they all gulped audibly.

"Bollocks," Tash summarised.

"Kyaa~...what happens in season three?" Aster inquired, hovering above everyone's heads curiously.

"This tower blows sky high," Harriet summed up simply.

"How did you hack into Kaiba's self destruct system?!" Adrian demanded.

"In the words of this fandom," Chi smirked. "I used my elite haxzor skills to bring down one of Kaiba's satellites so that we could gain access to his computer system!"

"Hooray for cyber-terrorism," Xavier added dryly.

"But you'll kill yourselves!" Harriet spluttered, at the apparent stupidity of this plan.

"Oh really?" Chi asked. "Or did you forget that the Fourth Wall is impervious to normal forms of breaking? And you've just left a nice empty transdimensional space for us to go back to."

"_Of course!" _Adrian mentally smacked himself. "_They knew all the Society agents would come here to get even with them, and so they planned to destroy us inside the tower while they hop through the Fourth Wall to the Libra-"_

"Librarian! Stop having an internal monologue!" Xavier snapped. "It's very impolite!"

"Yeah! We're trying to reveal the full brilliance of our plan!" Chi's pout wiped instantly from her face as she raised the button high above her head. "The death of the Society!"

Xavier joined her in an obligatory round of evil laughter.

"Say goodbye, agents!"

Chi's thumb came down on the button, as the Society charged en masse toward their two enemies. Red lights flashed all over the building, and a klaxon blared into the ears of everyone present. A pleasant female voice rang out over the chaos.

"_Auto destruction engaged. Two minutes until detonation. Evacuate immediately."_

"You just don't know when to back off, do you?" Harriet cried over the hubbub. "One night! We get one night where we can just enjoy ourselves and you screw it up for us! You put us to sleep. You make us relive some of the worst moments of our lives. You try to blow us up! And you RUINED a brilliant party!"

There appeared to be some massive crush going on in the centre of the crowd, with Chi and Xavier right in the middle. Most agents had abandoned the use of their weapons and magic in such a confined space, and were opting instead to punch, kick, prod or beat the Sue and Stu however they could.

"There's only one thing you two deserve!" Harriet bellowed, and all the agents seemed to hold their breaths as the leader bellowed the one command they had all longed to hear.

"SOCIETY DOG PILE!"

And in that instant, Chi and Xavier realised that they had made a huge mistake enraging the Society in this way.

Xavier's eyes went wide as several agents slammed into him with such force that he wound up flat on the floor, his beautiful face being squished uncomfortably into the concrete. Chi was suffering a similar fate, however she managed a smile as she realised just who was pinning her to the floor.

"Double the Marcus?" she sounded surprised, and then pleased, her voice taking on a suggestive tone. "Double the fun."

"FOR THE LAST TIME, I'M NOT STRAIGHT!" Emotion Marcus bellowed over the din.

Over on Xavier, things were no less chaotic.

"Sorry Tashy!" Harriet blushed. "I think I just kicked you in the chest!"

"Oh relax," Tash muttered. "Its not like there's much there to kick..."

There was a squeak and an awkward cough from on top of them.

"We really need to stop meeting like this Lady Rhia..."

"I can't breathe!" Xavier rasped, but there was so much noise in the air that no one heard him.

Adrian stood to one side, sweatdropping. He had tried to join the dog pile, but backed off when he saw how tall and ridiculous looking the piles of agents were getting, and figuring he should try and retain what little remained of his dignity.

"Ow!" came Ben's voice. "Who just punched me?!"

"Sorry!" Doug yelled. "I thought you were Chi!"

"_Sixty seconds, and counting."_ the pleasant female voice interrupted. Adrian paled and raced for the nearest computer console.

"Someone shut down the system!" came Michael's voice from somewhere under the pile of bodies.

"Way ahead of you!" the Librarian called over his shoulder, ripping out of the front panel of the computer and groaning as he saw a complex system of computer circuit boards, wires and other technical gismos that kept the whole system running. He swiftly pulled out his communicator and dialled.

"Phoenixia?! I need help!"

"Hey!" came Ben's voice from somewhere on the Chi pile. "Who am I kicking?"

"That's me!" Tyler protested. "And that really hurts!"

"So if that's you?" Drake asked, feeling beneath him. "Who's that beneath me?"

"That's me!" squeaked Karissa, and from the slapping noise which followed, Drake had clearly just accidently grabbed somewhere he shouldn't have.

"Where's Chi?!" Ben demanded. "You landed on top of her first!"

"I thought Drake was on top of her!" Karissa replied.

"YOU GUYS LANDED ON CHI?!" Emotion Marcus cried. "THEN WHO AM I ON TOP OF?"

"M-me!" Thought Marcus squealed. "Y-you're a-all o-on t-t-top of m-m-me!"

Slowly, the agents disentangled themselves from one another, and sure enough, on the bottom of the pile, were the two halves of Marcus, one on top of the other.

"_Thirty seconds, and counting."_

"Where's Chi?" Drake paled as he saw a rapidly shrinking plothole behind them. Chi had apparently taken advantage of the chaos to slip out from beneath the pile of agents and summon a plothole. All twenty agents dived for it, and slammed simultaneously into the tower wall as it vanished completely, leaving the mound of bruised and groaning agents on the floor.

"Damn it!" Tash snapped from the second pile. A finger poked into her ribs. "Ow!"

"Tash you yelled that right down my ear!" Harriet winced, and slowly the second dog pile of agents began to untangle themselves. Jess, who was sitting on the bottom, had somehow miraculously managed to extract a prohibitor from her bag, and clasp it around Xavier's wrist.

"Xavier Nathaniel Zenith Peacemaker, you are under arrest for multiple counts of fandom manipulation!" Jess declared as everyone got to their feet.

"A-and s-s-sending m-me on a w-wild g-g-goose c-chase t-through m-multiple f-f-fandoms!" Thought Marcus spluttered.

"AND RUINING A PERFECTLY GOOD PARTY!" Emotion Marcus added promptly.

"And trying to kill us!" Tash finished.

The euphoria lasted only a second, as an identical expression of "oh fuck" spread across everyone's faces as they remembered a little too late, that they were in a building that was set for explosion.

"_Twenty seconds, and counting."_

Adrian yanked harder and harder, and eventually toppled away from the console, sitting up and regrasping his communicator, growling in annoyance as he had to move the device in order to hear properly.

"What next?"

"Okay, you did pull out the blue wire, right?" Phoenixia's voice had the air of one trying to be calm under severe stress that was enough to turn ones hair grey. Adrian paled.

"You told me red!" he grabbed the wire that he had evidently just yanked out, which sure enough, was cased in red.

"No, I said blue!" the hologram screamed back.

"RED!"

"BLUE!"

"RED!"

"BLUE!"

"WILL YOU TWO SHUT UP AND DO SOMETHING ALREADY?!" Tash screamed what everyone was thinking. She was interjected by a helpful computerised voice.

"_Ten seconds, and counting."_

And still the argument continued.

"RED!"

"_Five."_

"BLUE!"

"_Four."_

"RED!"

"_Three."_

"BLUE!"

And as if by magic, the lights stopped flashing, the alarms died down, and the computerised voice announced in a slightly snarky tone.

"_System shut down_."

Every agent in the building had a suitably confused WTF moment affixed to their faces. Just when they had thought things could not get any weirder...

"What happened?" Adrian finally asked. "Why did the system shut down?" He turned hastily to Phoenixia on his communicator. "It _did _shut down, right?"

The hologram nodded, looking equally perplexed. The computer however, had the reply everyone was looking for.

"_After hearing such a pointless argument, I concurred that waiting for a deactivation order would take too long. So I wiped the command from my memory_."

The Librarian, and several other agents blinked.

"That was...unexpected," Adrian finally commented.

"Well this is YuGiOh the Abridged Series..." Phoenixia shrugged. "Not too unexpected."

"True..." Adrian agreed, yelping as a spark shot out from the computer panel and zapped him. His hair stood on end, smoke floating up in wisps, and the fur on his tail was standing on end like a stiff wire brush.

"What was that for?!" he cried, as the assembled agents burst out laughing behind him.

"_You ripped off my panels and tore at my wiring_," the computer replied. "_I never go third base on a first date_!"

OOO

An hour later, after Xavier had been thrown into the basement, the Library's computer systems set up to track Chi, and Adrian had repaired the crack in the Fourth Wall and changed his outfit ("Finally!" he had cheered upon finding his wardrobe hidden on top of the Phoenix Zord's head), the Society sat back in the main reading room, all looking beyond exhausted, but primarily upset.

It was with a very subdue air that Rhia quietly gave the order to clear away the tables and take all the uneaten food to her kitchen. Most agents were sprawled around on sofas, cushions, and beanbags, all still in costume (except for Adrian) and some curled up in the blankets that had been moved there earlier that evening.

"Now that the excitement is over..." Harriet began, trailing off, as her mind was forced back to the memories she had been forced to flashback through all evening.

"...we've got nothing to distract us from what we saw," Valerie sighed, from where she sat surrounded by her teammates on a pile of cushions.

"The worst moments of our lives..." Emily muttered, her eyes filling with tears. She hopped up and sat next to Harriet, her arms held out for a cuddle. The Leader obliged, if only to hide her own face.

Tash was cuddling Adrian, but for once, was not petting his ears. The Librarian looked a little less sombre than everyone else, but that was hardly surprising – he was used to encountering his past every time he closed his eyes to rest.

"The one night we try and enjoy ourselves," Tash was chewing her lip. "And it gets ruined by our pasts..."

She sighed heavily. "I guess there's only one cure for this melancholy."

Everyone looked at her in curiosity, as she pulled out her phone, checked her watch briefly, before pressing a number on speed dial.

"...hello, Dominos Pizza? Can I place an order for collection, please?"

OOO

FLASHBACK

_Something was touching him..._

"_Shh love...its only me...go back to sleep..."_

_He wouldn't be fooled. He wouldn't let that happen again. He couldn't..._

"_Nothing can hurt you while I'm here..."_

_A moan broke free, and he tried to struggle away from the persistent touch. "No..."_

_Arms were all around him, touching, intruding, branding him with a mark he didn't want..._

"_Wake up love..."_

"_Don't...TOUCH ME!"_

_The Librarian exploded out of sleep, pulling himself and his perceived threat off the bed and slamming the offender into the wall. When the voice spoke it was tinged with pain, but this time Adrian recognised it._

"_Calm down love...its just me..."_

_Blinking slowly to clear the terror that his mind had left him in, he backed slowly away from his girlfriend, who rubbed her arms where he had grabbed her. "I..."_

"_Its me...no need to panic," Tash was whispering. She was still fully dressed, and had apparently only just returned from whatever it was she had been doing, but Adrian comprehended none of this. He was still trying to sort out the reality of his waking moments from the incredibly realistic nightmare._

_He clutched his head. Nothing made sense at the moment. "I...I was there again...she chained me...couldn't move...can't make it stop..."_

_He sank back to the bed, and Tash knelt, cuddling him gently and trying to soothe her frightened lover._

"_Its okay...you're here now, and she can't hurt you again..."_

_She knew...of course she knew. Adrian remembered telling her about this particular memory of his past, and the scars (both physical and mental) he still had to show for it. Right now though none of this seemed relevant in his confused state._

"_It doesn't stop...helpless...I can't go back...don't make me go back..."_

_Between his desperate pleas he began to cry softly into Tash's shoulder._

"_I can't..."_

_No..._

_Wait...not again!_

_This isn't supposed to be happening!_

OOO

Adrian awoke with a start, and immediately reached over, fearing that he was alone. To his relief he found the familiar sleeping body next to him, stirring slightly at his unease.

"Mmm...what's wrong, love?" Tash's voice was thick with sleep and confusion. The Librarian cuddled close to her.

"I had a flashback...I thought the spell was over though. We shouldn't be having them!"

Sensing that he was getting worked up, the kitty ears were rubbed, tweaked and petted, instantly wiping all concerns from the Librarian's stressed mind.

"It's a clipshow love," came the sleepy reply, before a pair of thin arms wrapped around him and snuggled close. "Just go with it...go back to sleep..."

For the first time in his life, Adrian was relieved to hear the Fourth Wall rumble, as if to reassure him that all was well, and he settled quickly back to sleep.

OOO

When the Librarian awoke, his girlfriend was nowhere to be found. Frowning at this strangeness, he pulled on his clothes and headed for the kitchen, expecting to find her there.

To his surprise, the kitchen was deserted. No one was around, grabbing a snack, or munching through breakfast, or cramming some form of caffeine down their throat in order to properly wake them up.

Feeling a little anxious after the events of last night, Adrian hurried through the corridors in search of another living soul. He could still sense people in the Library, so he was not panicking that he had been left alone once more (he still shuddered every time he remembered his all too silent life before the Society had moved in), but he was worried. Where had everyone gone?

Fortunately, he eventually ran into Michael and Claire, who were walking arm in arm toward the monitor room, presumably to share the duty that morning.

"Where is everyone?" Adrian asked. The couple blinked at him in surprise, before adopting suitably grave expressions.

"They've all come down with an infectious disease," Michael said solemnly. Next to him, Claire was nodding her head in a sad manner.

"...what kind of disease?" Adrian frowned.

Claire blinked in surprise. "You don't know? It's November the first."

"Which means they all have the NaNoWriMo disease," Michael stated. "They've all gone and huddled in one of the smaller reading rooms to write and make up for the time they lost last night while we were running around like loons."

Adrian felt horror dawn on him. "So let me get this straight? We're supposed to run the Society for an entire month with half of our staff huddled in a room over their laptops, running off nothing but caffeinated beverages and large amounts of sugar?"

"...pretty much," Michael beamed. "Aren't you excited?"

"Oh yes._ Totally thrilled..." _the Librarian groaned.

OOO


End file.
